The YouTube star just dropped something pretty uncomfortable about his 2013 reality TV run.
If you’ve been following Joey Graceffa for a while, you know he’s always kept things real with his audience. But this? This hits different.
In a recent interview with Out magazine, the YouTube creator — who has over 9 million subscribers — opened up about his time on The Amazing Race Season 22 back in 2013. And look, it wasn’t all travel montages and airport sprints.
According to Graceffa, there was some serious behind-the-scenes pressure that he’s only now talking about out loud.
Here’s the thing — Graceffa says a producer on The Amazing Race straight-up suggested he come out as gay on the show. On camera. For ratings.
He told Out: “The Amazing Race was a lot of fun, but it was truly traumatizing. It’s crazy. They wanted me to come out on the show!”
He even described one specific producer who pushed the idea directly. His response? “I’ll come out if you write me that $1 million check at the finish line!”
That’s not a joke. That’s a 22-year-old kid shutting it down flat out when he was literally still figuring himself out. He wasn’t out yet. He wasn’t ready. And someone with a producer badge thought that would make great television.
Now here’s where it gets messy — Graceffa didn’t name the producer. And CBS Studios and Twentieth Television haven’t responded to PEOPLE‘s request for comment. So we’re working with one side of the story here. But that one side? It’s pretty damning.
Graceffa eventually came out on his own terms — in 2015, through a YouTube video he titled “YES I’M GAY.” Over 8 million views. His audience showed up. That mattered.
The difference between that moment and what allegedly got suggested on The Amazing Race set? Complete control. His platform. His words. His timing.
Reality TV has a long history of digging through someone’s personal life for a good clip — and this isn’t the first time a contestant has come out post-show talking about what actually went down behind the cameras. But Graceffa is still very much active, with a new book called The Twelve just out and a fanbase that’s been with him for over a decade. This story isn’t going away quietly.
And yeah… CBS hasn’t said a word yet.
Not gonna lie — this whole situation exposes something gross that reality TV has been doing forever. Find someone’s most private, unresolved thing and try to make it a plot point. If what he’s saying is true, a producer looked at a closeted 22-year-old and saw a ratings moment. That’s not storytelling. That’s exploitation dressed up in a travel budget.
The fact that he held his ground — and then came out two years later on YouTube to 8 million people who actually loved him — honestly makes it sting more.
So the real question is — how many other contestants have stories like this that we just… never heard?
