Bachelor’s Joey Graziadei Shares Gilbert Syndrome Diagnosis Causing His “Yellow Eyes”
Joey Graziadei is addressing the not-so-rosy comments on his appearance.
The Bachelor star responded to social media users who have been expressing concern over his "yellow eyes" during his season of the ABC dating show. As he explained in a Feb. 29 TikTok video, he has Gilbert Syndrome, a non-serious condition in which the liver doesn't process bilirubin normally, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Joey was diagnosed with the syndrome when he was in high school.
"I was sick for about a week and a half," the 28-year-old recalled. "My mom thought it would be a good idea to go to the doctor."
His bloodwork ultimately showed that he had a high bilirubin count, which indicated a problem with his liver. After getting an ultrasound of the organ, he said "there was nothing that was necessarily wrong like hepatitis," and he was instead diagnosed with Gilbert Syndrome as a teen.
"At the end of the day, I am told that I am healthy," Joey noted. "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. It's something I want to pay attention to more going into this year."
He added that the health condition gets "worse when I have stress or lack of sleep, which happens on a TV show," but he tries to stay hydrated to combat the effects.
"I do appreciate everyone looking out for me and wondering if I'm OK," he said. "But to my knowledge, I'm as OK as I can be, and I will continue to look at it."
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