Joey Graziadei bared his abs during the Dancing With the Stars premiere, and it’s all thanks to his partner, Jenna Johnson.
“I’m going to take full credit for this,” Jenna, 30, exclusively told Us Weekly after the DWTS premiere on Tuesday, September 17. “This is Dancing With the Stars. It’s over the top, he’s wearing rhinestones. Like, we need to just play to our audience, and they love that.”
Jenna recalled bringing up the idea to Joey, 29, ahead of their first dance. “I’ll never forget talking about it for the first time, and you’re like, ‘What am I going to do?’” she said. “But you nailed it.”
Joey admitted he was “scared” to pop open the buttons of his shirt during the routine, but he “trusted” Jenna to “make an amazing routine.” He added, “So whatever she said I was doing, I said, ‘I’ll do it.’”
Joey confessed he got in a few workouts between practicing for their debut dance. “I’ve been doing nothing but push-ups these last two weeks,” he said. “I’m like, ‘I need to look better. I haven’t worked out for, like, three months since I left The Bachelor.’”
As season 33 progresses, Joey joked that he hoped to give more sexy energy than Golden Retriever vibes. “I know there’s a lot of dances where you have to sell sexy, and I am going to have to learn,” Joey said.
Jenna, however, was quick to give Joey credit for his moves. “I’m sorry, but there was a little taste of sexy tonight,” she said. “You know, I think the audience was a little surprised.”
Joey and Jenna kicked off the season with a Cha Cha number to Tyler Hubbard’s “Dancin’ In the Country.” They received a score total of 21, earning 7s from judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli.
After each of the 13 couples danced to their personal anthems during the premiere episode, Eric Roberts and Britt Stewart had the lowest score of the night while Chandler Kinney and Brandon Armstrong took the lead. No pairs were eliminated on Tuesday, but two duos will be sent home next week.
Ahead of the premiere, Joey gushed that he was “stoked” to be partnered with Jenna. “My sister watches the show and she was hoping I was gonna be with Jenna,” he quipped to Us earlier this month. “So when I found that out, I couldn’t wait.”
Dancing With the Stars airs simultaneously on ABC and Disney+ Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
With reporting by Carly Konsker
