'The Bachelor's Joey Graziadei Reveals Health Diagnosis
'The Bachelor' star responded to comments about the yellowing of his eyes on the show.
Joey Graziadei is addressing comments about his health after The Bachelor fans expressed concern over the yellowed coloring of his eyes. The ABC leading man, 28, took to Instagram Thursday to reveal that the coloration is due to a medical diagnosis he first received when he was a teenager and that viewers don't need to be worried about his health.
"I wanted to jump on here really quick and talk about something that I'm seeing a lot of comments about, which is 'Joey's yellow eyes,'" Graziadei said in his Instagram video. "So, to give some context on that, I have to go all the way back to when I was in high school."
The tennis pro revealed that after being "sick for about a week and a half" as a teen, his mom took him to the doctor, where he underwent blood tests that revealed something abnormal. "The bloodwork showed that my bilirubin count was very high," said Graziadei. "That means that there could be something that was wrong with my liver. So we went and I got a liver ultrasound. I went to other doctors and they found out that there was nothing that was necessarily wrong, like hepatitis, but they diagnosed me with something called Gilbert syndrome."
Gilbert syndrome is a "common, harmless liver condition in which the liver doesn't properly process bilirubin," which is a yellowish-orange byproduct of red blood cell breakdown, according to the Mayo Clinic. The condition is genetic and does not require treatment, as it is sometimes only ever discovered "by accident" through other blood tests.
"At the end of the day, I am told that I am healthy," the reality personality explained. "It's something that does affect the whites of my eyes, it makes it have those jaundice levels, which is why they look a little bit more yellow." As the yellowing can intensify due to dehydration, stress and lack of sleep, "which happens on a TV show," Graziadei said taking care of himself is "something I want to pay attention to more going into this year," adding, "I want to get my health right and make sure that I'm all good."
The Bachelor concluded his message to fans by thanking them for keeping an eye out for him. "I do appreciate everyone looking out for me and wondering if I'm OK, but to my knowledge, I'm as OK as I can be and I will continue to be on the lookout, so thank you very much," he said.
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