Joey regrets skipping this Bachelor tradition

When viewers met Joey Graziardi on Charity Lawson's season of The Bachelorette , the tennis coach's laid-back attitude and Midwestern optimism made him an instant favorite. But his easy-going demeanor became complicated during "Homeland," when his uncle worried that he wasn't "the real Joey."

Bachelor Nation hopes to discover this side of him when The Bachelor season begins. On January 22, the 28-year-old Pennsylvania native wrote that he had "grown a lot" since working at the charity last spring. Still, that didn't make this new journey any less daunting.

"I would [go back] and tell myself to have fun [being The Bachelor]," Joey tells Bustle about Season 28. "I put a lot of pressure on myself through this whole thing and I know it can get to me sometimes."

His run was billed as "the most romantic season in Bachelor history" and was full of surprises. While Joey plans to forge his own path, he doesn't mind being reminded of a few curveballs this season. "I definitely wasn't expecting to date sisters," he said, referring to contestants Lauren Hollinger and Allison Hollinger. "This goes beyond left field."

Below, Joey talks about his bachelor style, his golden wedding , and one of his biggest regrets.

Disney/Gizelle Hernandez

People have been loving your bachelor style. Was there a conscious decision to up your fashion game?

I have to give credit to all the stylists. They try to do different things and they know I'm very open-minded. We are willing to take some risks.

Of course, there are plenty of puns about playing tennis, and there are some slow-motion shots in the trailer. Are there ever moments when you wonder: How much further can we go?

We will only go further. Overall, there was a lot of tennis throughout the season. You will see more. It's part of me, so I love it. This sport has given me a lot, so I can pay tribute to it, [and I will]. There will definitely be a lot of puns, but you have to go with the flow.

You attended the golden wedding. What did you gain from that experience?

It was so amazing to see their love and have that night of celebration. I also met all these alumni. I'm very close with Wells [Adams] and Dean [Unglert]. I’ve known Ben [Higgins] from before, and there’s a lot of great people out there: Charity [Lawson] and Dodon [Olubeko], Katie [Bigger] and Zach [Scharcross] , Brayden [Bowles] and Christina [Mandrell]. It’s so fun to have everyone in one place.

Disney/James Clark

At this point, I read that some alumni were willing to give you some advice, but you said, "No, thank you." Now that you've finished filming, do you wish you could have taken them on?

I admit when I'm wrong and I'm naive. I could have asked for some help. The idea was that I wanted it to feel like my own experience. I don't want to change in any way. This is no disrespect to them. Pretty soon, I was like, damn, I should talk to some people. It would be nice to have some insights.

We don't know how your season ends, but in theory , Does Golden Wedding make you think you'd be interested in a TV wedding ?

It's definitely something in the back of your head. But you'll have to wait and see this season to see if I get to do the wedding.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.