Bachelor lead Joey Graziadei sparks confusion after saying island built in 5900 BC has ‘old school vibes’

‘Vintage cities so in,’ one fan jokes on TikTok, in response to ‘The Bachelor’ lead’s remark

The lead of The Bachelor, Joey Graziadei, has sparked confusion after describing a European island, built in 5900 BC, as “old school”.

In an episode of the show, which aired on 12 February, Graziadei and the season’s contestants arrived in Malta, an island country located in Southern Europe. Similar to the previous seasons, season 28 follows Graziadei’s journey to find his future wife. His stint in The Bachelor comes after he was a contestant on Charity Lawson’s season ofThe Bachelorette.

The Bachelor episode went on to showcase Graziadei walking through Malta, while expressing how thrilled he was to be there. “I’m excited to be in Malta,” he said. “I can tell why people love to come here. It’s absolutely beautiful.”

He then made the now-viral comment about the city’s appearance, adding: “It kind of has that old-school vibe to it. You can tell there’s a lot of culture. You’re close to the water. There’s a ton of beauty.”

On social media, many fans have gone on to mock Graziadei’s remark about Malta, which was built in approximately 5900 BC and is located south of Sicily, Italy. In the comments under a TikTok, which showcased part of the episode, many made jokes about countries that are centuries old.

“Vintage cities so in rn,” one quipped, while another added: “Me looking at Grecian ruins: ‘oh cute, retro.’”

A third joked: “Me in Rome: it’s a bit dated.”

Meanwhile, some people poked fun at some of Graziadei’s other comments, while quipping about how they could relate to him.

“I’m dead when he also said it’s ‘near the water,’ babe Malta is an island,” one wrote.

“He’s so funny like this is my dream man,” another added, while a third commented: “He’s so simple, I love him.”

This isn’t the first time that the reality star’s remarks have been mocked on social media. Last week, he made headlines when he confused Gypsy Rose Blanchard for Ruth Bader Ginsburg in  a “How Online Are You?” video for Betches. When shown a picture of Blanchard, who spent eight years in prison for conspiring to kill her mother, Graziadei said: “I do know who this person is!”

“Is it Ruth? It’s Jinsburg or Ginsburg or something like that. Am I wrong?” he asked, referring to the late Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg, who was known for delivering progressive votes on the most sensitive social issues of the day, including abortion rights, same-sex marriage, voting rights, immigration, health care, and affirmative action

Despite getting the question wrong in the Betches video, Graziadei did appear to know who Blanchard was, saying: “I know that she had something happen where she went to jail because of her mom.”

“Ruth Ginsburg? I don’t know what I’m saying,” he said, laughing, after being told who the woman in the photo was.

Graziadei’s confusion came nearly two months after Blanchard was released from Chillicothe Correctional Center in Missouri. Blanchard had served 85 per cent of her sentence, eight years after confessing that she and her online boyfriend - Nicholas Godejohn - plotted to kill her mother. She first pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in 2016, while Godejohn was eventually found guilty and sentenced to life in prison for murder and 25 years for armed criminal action.

Until the age of 24, Blanchard was psychologically and physically abused by her mother, who forced her to pretend she was disabled. Dee Dee reportedly had Munchausen syndrome by proxy, forcing her daughter to pass herself off as chronically ill.