Joey Sasso wants to make it clear that he wasn’t flirting with Tayshia Adams, despite how The Goat edited their scenes together.
“I keep hearing this. I don’t know. I’m in a relationship. I’m as with someone as you can be and was with them during production,” Joey, 30, exclusively told Us Weekly about how his talk with Tayshia, 33, played out on screen compared to how it actually went down.
Joey clarified his intentions when it came to his one-on-one chat with Tayshia, adding, “I haven’t seen [the scene] yet, but all I could say is maybe a lot of times people can take me being me as flirty or a certain type of way.”
According to The Circle alum, if he tried to flirt it would be more obvious.
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“Tayshia was sitting right here. If that was [me flirting], I’d be like, ‘Yep, I was coming at you, girl. I had eyes for you,’” he told Us. “But no, I love Tayshia and nothing more than that. Honestly.”
During the Thursday, May 9, series premiere of The Goat, over a dozen reality TV stars moved into GOAT Manor to face off in various challenges for a cash prize and the title of Greatest of All Time. Tayshia won the first competition, which granted her immunity from being eliminated. Before the elimination ceremony, Joey sat down with Tayshia to talk about their individual strategies.
The Amazon Freevee series had fun by adding a countdown to the bottom of the screen, which read, “Joey attempts to flirt.”
“I just knew right off the bat that you’re really smart, you are a hard worker and I knew you were going to bring it,” Joey told Tayshia during their sit-down. “You did phenomenal. I was like, ‘She did what I thought she would probably do.’”
In a confessional, Tayshia admitted she wasn’t sure what to think of Joey. “I haven’t put my finger on Joey yet,” she shared. “He has the biggest personality and is super supportive.”
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Joey, who was eliminated by the end of the episode, was determined to stick around. “I am going to do everything the best way I can, which is being honest and loyal. There is nothing that I will say behind your back that I won’t say to your face,” he noted. “A lot of people say that but I truly mean it.”
While reflecting on her talk with Joey, Tayshia joked about how it reminded her of The Bachelorette. (Tayshia was the lead on season 16 of The Bachelorette in 2020. She also cohosted seasons 17 and 18 of the ABC dating show alongside Kaitlyn Bristowe.)
“I didn’t really think there were any similarities between The Bachelorette and The Goat. But there kind of are,” she told the cameras. “People are trying to win me over and pulling my aside, which I have had that done one too many times.”
The narrative that Joey was trying to make a move continued when a producer asked how things were going with Tayshia. In response, Joey tried to get the producer to change the topic so no one would hear.
“Keep it on the down low,” Joey said in a confessional. “Don’t say nothing. Shh.”
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Before his short-lived time on The Goat, Joey won the first season of Netflix’s The Circle. He went on to appear on the Perfect Match, where it was revealed that he previously hooked up with Francesca Farago and Kariselle Snow.
Tayshia, meanwhile, found love with Zac Clark on The Bachelorette, but Us confirmed their split in December 2021. She has since moved on with former Summer House star Luke Gulbranson, whom Tayshia was dating while filming The Goat.
The Goat is available to stream on Amazon Freevee with new episodes released on Thursdays.
