Kelsey Anderson has leaned on Joey Graziadei — and one of his sisters — while navigating social media haters amid his stint on Dancing With the Stars.
“He’s always like, ‘Just don’t even let it bother you,’” Anderson, 26, exclusively told Us Weekly while promoting her partnership with F— Cancer and Little Words Project. “But then sometimes I’m like, ‘You know what, I need extra support.’ I’ll call his sister Carly and then I’ll talk to her and then she’s like, ‘Yeah, make the video.’”
Anderson noted that she receives a “good balance” of both perspectives. “Sometimes Carly’s — not the devil on my shoulder — but she’s like the person that’s like, ‘Do it. Like, why not? It’s not gonna hurt anything if it’s gonna make you feel better.’ Joey’s sometimes like, ‘You don’t need to respond. They don’t know you.”
Anderson and Graziadei’s relationship has been in the spotlight while he competes on season 33 of DWTS with partner Jenna Johnson. Since the reality series premiered in September, Anderson has released several social media videos addressing trolls who have questioned their romance.
Kelsey Anderson Tearfully Defends Relationship With Joey After ‘DWTS’
During Dedication Night on DWTS, users pointed to Anderson’s face as a hint that there was trouble in paradise with her and Graziadei, 29. Anderson quickly shared a video explaining that she was in her “feelings a little bit” with how “special” it was to have Graziadei dedicate his dance to her — and to have several DWTS contestants pay tribute to important people in their life, like their mom. (Anderson’s mom died in 2018 after a battle with breast cancer.)
“I commented on it just because I knew that it was gonna make me feel better,” Anderson explained to Us. “I thought about it for a minute and I was just like, ‘You know what, I’m just gonna say something because maybe it’ll help people not always jump to conclusions as well.’”
Anderson noted that she tends to receive “a lot” of “crazy comments.” She added, “I probably will respond to one of a hundred, if that. I thought that it was gonna make me feel better and it did. I had a lot of support from making that video that I really appreciated.”
Despite her video — and feeling better after it — Kelsey explained that she’s “gonna settle down” with responding to trolls.
“I’m not gonna always react whenever people are saying things. But that one did kind of hurt me, especially because it got a lot of traction,” she said. “I was like, ‘Guys, it was just a hard night for me.’”
Kelsey Reacts to Joey Dedicating His Next ‘DWTS’ Performance to Her
Regardless of what anyone might think, Anderson definitely enjoys watching Graziadei on DWTS each week. “I think that the highlight for me is watching him perform and knowing all of the hard work that he’s putting into it,” she said. “He is consistently just pushing his limits, going all the way. He will watch his videos of his dance and he critiques himself and figures out where he needs to work on.”
While she’s been living with Graziadei in L.A. during his DWTS stint, she’s headed to NYC for a project of her own. Anderson, who was candid on The Bachelor season 28 about navigating the death of her mom, is continuing to raise awareness by partnering with F— Cancer and Little Words Project for a special pop-up event at the Bleecker Street location in Soho, New York. Attendees can bead and buy bracelets with Anderson while raising awareness and funds for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Anderson’s designed bracelet will also be available from October 23 to 25.
“I felt a lot of weight on figuring out a word that could have encompassed my mom [and] watching somebody go through cancer treatments and fighting through it and all of these things,” Anderson told Us. “And I didn’t wanna come up with a cliche word like, you know, fighter or strength. I wanted to do something a little bit different. I came up with the word ‘always’ in honor of my mom because my mom will always be with me.”
With reporting by Sarah Hearon
