The tennis pro called his lengthy smooch with Charity 'unbelievable.'
Joey is gushing over his record-breaking kiss! On Monday night's episode of The Bachelorette, the tennis pro won the chance to break the franchise's all-time kissing record, and did just that by laying one on Charity Lawson for four minutes and 25 seconds.
"It's crazy. I had no idea what to expect coming into today and I'm just buzzing right now," Joey told ET's Denny Directo after the smooch. "That was unbelievable."
Joey got the opportunity to break the franchise's record after impressing Charity and former Bachelorettes Rachel Recchia and Gabby Windey in several rounds of competition, that required him to answer questions and make out with his hand.
"The make-out with the hand, I'm interested to look back on that one. I was like, 'This is Charity's face,' but it wasn't, it was my hand. I cringed," Joey admitted. "Like, how do you prep for that? I mean, they ask, 'Have you ever done this before?' I was like, 'No, why would I ever do that before?'"
As for how Josh handled the hand make-out session, he joked, "I just went in for it. I was like, 'Here's my preview, Charity.'"
While the situation was obviously "uncomfortable," Joey said he was "trying to stay out of my own head" and focus on what matters -- Charity.
"I didn't stop looking at her. I kind of got that impression that a lot of the guys are probably focused on their answers or focused on the moment, but I wanted to make sure she knew, 'Hey, I see you. You're the only person in this room in my mind right now,'" he said. "I couldn't stop looking at her, so it was pretty easy."
Rachel noticed Joey's efforts, telling ET, "Joey really stood out to me, because every single moment he was looking and trying to make eye contact with her."
Charity took note of that too, as she told ET, "There has been a lot of eye contact. I think it's really easy to get caught up and overconsumed in the activities that are going on, but making sure that you're doing little gestures to get my attention [is important]."
Not only did the eye contact stand out, but Charity also noted that she'd ultimately pick a winner who was "embracing the moment and truly leaning in," just as Joey did.
Given that, Joey's strategy worked and Charity selected him as the winner.
"I was so excited when I was picked as the winner," he admitted. "I mean, you sit there, you run in your head like, 'Is it going to be me? Is it going to be another guy? Am I going to have to watch her make out with another guy?'"
While Joey acknowledged that the kiss, which beat the previous record by more than a minute, was "a long time," he said that "it didn't feel that long with Charity."
"It was amazing," Joey said, before revealing why the kiss, which left him feeling "elated," made him glad he didn't lock lips on night one.
"I had a connection with her on the first night. I thought I had an opportunity to kiss her and I kind of pulled back, because it's not usually something I would do, so maybe this was a sign by her to be like, 'Dude, do it,'" he said. "... I don't know how any first kiss can get better than this one. I'm now happy that I didn't make that move on the first night, because now we get to have this crazy story."
The kiss not only gave Joey and Charity a story to remember, but also granted them alone time after the group portion on the date.
"I'm more excited that led to a one-on-one and I'm going to get some more alone time with her. So that's just where my head's at. I'm going to make the most of my time that I have with her," he said. "... I can't wait. There's so many things I've been wanting to talk to her about, so many kinds of connections I wanted to keep building off of and talking through, so I'm just excited."
Up until this point, Joey said things with his co-competitors had "been awesome," but he predicted he'd be "enemy number one" after winning the lengthy kiss.
"They're all going to be jealous," he said. "... All those guys are aware that, not only did I share a kiss, but I shared a really long, intimate one."
Charity agreed, noting, "I think we might have some jealousy. That's OK."
John Henry confirmed as much, telling ET, "Of course I'll be jealous. These guys are great. There's no drama yet, but as soon as you get love involved, there's definitely gonna be some drama."
Even so, Joey planned to keep his focus on Charity, whom he couldn't help but gush about.
"She lights up a room when she walks in. That smile, how do you not pay attention to those beautiful teeth? How happy she looks and her confidence," he said. "When she walks into a room, you you can't not look at her. It's amazing and I heard about it, but now the more I see it, the more it makes sense."
Gabby agreed, telling ET, "She's amazing. She seems really ready for a relationship, knows what she wants. She seems great and genuine and sweet. I'm so excited to see what's in store for her."
When it comes to the leading lady herself, she said that she's "never been more confident" that her husband is in the group of men. As for who that may be, Charity pointed to Aaron B., Brayden and Warwick as guys who've stood out.
"Aaron B., he was very intentional. I think he led with that, and so we found out night one we had a lot of similarities and we got to spend some good quality time together, so I really do adore him," she said, before speaking about her first impression rose winner.
"With Brayden, we have this instantaneous connection. It's there. You can feel it. I feel like really comfortable around him, my best self," she said, before noting of Warwick, " I think he surprises me a little bit, but he keeps me on my toes. [He's] very charming."
All in all, Charity said her first week as the Bachelorette "has been honestly the best week of my life."
"We're just getting started," she said. "There's so much more to come, but everything's off to a great start and I'm really happy."
As Charity continues on her journey, Rachel and Gabby had some words of wisdom for her.
"We know how to pick the wrong ones, so we're helping her pick the right one. We're the experts... I think she can watch our season and do the opposite," Rachel joked, with Gabby adding, "Yeah, everything we did she shouldn't."
Watch Charity Lawson's journey for love on season 20 of The Bachelorette, which airs Mondays on ABC. Stay up to date on all the drama by following along with ET's coverage of the series.
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