Joe Amabile & Kendall Long - Bachelorette 15 - DWTS - Discussion

@Jolena It didn't open for me either. It says to hover over the title and select play, but it doesn't work.

mbl wrote:@havadrpepper where did Joe go to college?

No idea but to do the job he was doing in 2009, he would have needed a college education. I have a classmate that did that as well and he always said it was a tough road to even get a job with a college education.

Cute photo posted on Kendall's Instagram love his expression, goes to show this guy is courting her. Must have been this last weekend. Wonder if they went to Santa Barbara zoo while they were there since she loves animals.....

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bn2IP28jkYA/?taken-by=keykendall88

Here's the scoop on his grocery store and more!

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/tv/ct-ent-joe-amabile-dancing-with-the-stars-0924-story.html

Norcalgal wrote:Here's the scoop on his grocery store and more!

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/tv/ct-ent-joe-amabile-dancing-with-the-stars-0924-story.html

Could you summarize the article? I'm not allowed to read it since I'm not a subscriber. It keeps putting a banner on top of the article that will not allow me to read.

Thanks

@havadrpepper
“Grocery Store Joe” Amabile’s quick rise to stardom of course began G G at a grocery store.

The West Town resident said he was approached in Whole Foods by a casting representative who encouraged him to sign up for “The Bachelorette.” His appearance did not go well. Becca Kufrin sent him home on the May season premiere after he tripped over his words when he got out of the limo to meet her.
Yet those few, awkward TV minutes launched the Summer of Joe. Fans immediately fell in love with his sincerity, and he scored an invitation to join “The Bachelorette” “The Men Tell All” special and “Bachelor in Paradise.” Now he’s competing on Season 27 of “Dancing with the Stars,” which is scheduled to premiere at 7 p.m. Monday on ABC.

“I never even expected to get the call for ‘Bachelor in Paradise,’ so yeah, it was all very unexpected,” Amabile told the Tribune by phone.

Though this will be Amabile’s third TV show in four months, there’s a mystery about him. He didn’t have much of a digital footprint when he began his “Bachelor” journey so fans have raised questions about him on social media. Where is his grocery store? Who has he dated? And is he really that nice?

Depending on who you ask, Amabile was always destined for fame. The 32-year-old was born and raised in Melrose Park. He graduated from Holy Cross High School in 2004 shortly before the all-male River Grove school closed because of declining enrollment.

“Joe was a charmer. He was like the kind of student that would try to use his charm to kind of get out of a lot of things,” said Marilyn Skowron, who taught at Holy Cross for 22 years and now teaches English at Guerin College Preparatory High School. “He was an average student, but he would try like batting his eyelashes at you and try to make you feel like, ‘Oh yeah, I'll give you a break.’”

Amabile was a member of futures giant CME Group from 2005-2010. He said he clerked there as a teenager and later worked as an equities trader.

He also got into the family produce business. He said his uncle John, who died this year, worked on Maxwell Street. The Tribune asked him about his grandfather, Joseph “Joe Shine” Amabile, a reputed crime syndicate figure who died in 1976 — about 10 years before Amabile was born. “My father was a police officer. My brother’s a police officer, and I was raised not like that,” Amabile said of the Outfit.

He eventually became a part owner of Eric’s Food Center in the Hegewisch neighborhood on the South Side. That’s where he filmed his “Bachelorette” intro video. He figured he would give the show a try because he had been “single for the majority of my life” and the timing was right.

Eric’s Food Center was recently sold so “Grocery Store Joe” — a moniker given to him by fans — is without a grocery store, but he said he’s still a produce buyer. For now, he’s learning how to dance for “Dancing with the Stars.”

“Bachelor” host Chris Harrison extended the show invite to Amabile so he could be closer to his girlfriend, Kendall Long, whom he met and dated this summer on “Bachelor in Paradise.” The dancing competition tapes in Los Angeles near where Long lives.

I never danced, like ever. Even at high school dances and stuff, if I danced, it was very minimum. It was just something I’ve never felt comfortable doing,” Amabile said.

His mom, Gina, confirmed this. “I’m like a nervous wreck because he can’t dance. … I mean, he’s never danced.”

Amabile’s family plans to be in the audience Monday as he dances the quickstep to Leo Soul’s “Fish Out of Water” with his professional partner, Jenna Johnson. On Tuesday, the pair dances the quickstep to “Check It Out” by Oh the Larceny. They need good marks from the judges and viewer votes to advance to the next round.

Amabile may be able to win over viewers with just his megawatt smile, which is a huge hit with his fans. His dentist, Oak Park Dr. Anthony Ponzio, said he’s always smiling.

“He’s just one of those types of people that everyone in the office likes, from the time he walks in to the time he leaves. He's one of those guys like nothing is fake about him. He's just a friendly, engaging person,” said Ponzio, adding that he has known the Amabile family for years and has worked with a few of Amabile’s relatives.

Amabile isn’t sure what’s in store after his stint on “Dancing with the Stars.” His mother, of course, hopes he comes home to Chicago. The way things are going though, he could find a spot on another TV show. His fate is in the hands of his fans, again.

“Vote for me, I guess, if you want to keep seeing me on TV,” Amabile said.

@Stone_Hedge Thanks!

Guess I was right in that his grandfather was a mobster. Interesting history in that family.

So he has worked as a trader, in the family produce business, was a part owner of a grocery store and is now a reality TV star. Busy guy!

havadrpepper wrote:@Stone_Hedge Thanks!

Guess I was right in that his grandfather was a mobster.  Interesting history in that family.

So he has worked as a trader, in the family produce business, was a part owner of a grocery store and is now a reality TV star.  Busy guy!

Wait.. where does it say that? He does NOT at all confirm that IMO. Says he was not raise like that with police officers in his family...

Astrobach wrote:

havadrpepper wrote:@Stone_Hedge Thanks!

Guess I was right in that his grandfather was a mobster.  Interesting history in that family.

So he has worked as a trader, in the family produce business, was a part owner of a grocery store and is now a reality TV star.  Busy guy!

Wait..  where does it say that? He does NOT at all confirm that IMO. Says he was not raise like that with police officers in his family...

No he wasn't raised like that but his grandfather was a mobster. That is a fact. Evidently his father and brother didn't want that life style and preferred the "right" side of the law.

Sorry to quote my own post but in a post upthread:

havadrpepper wrote:They have also found some other stuff that is pure speculation of Joe being connected to another Chicagoan named Joseph Amabile... he was a west side gangster in the 1950's.  He was convicted of extortion in the late 60's and sentenced to 15 years in jail and a $10,000 fine. He passed away in jail in 1976.  I found a death notice for his wife who died in 2009.  Both the names Louie and Joe are listed as family members...

And, from the story above:

The Tribune asked him about his grandfather, Joseph “Joe Shine” Amabile, a reputed crime syndicate figure who died in 1976

I love Joe’s backstory, like all of it. Grandfather is a convicted mobster, father is a cop, he himself wasn’t a great student and didn’t go to college but apparently has a lot of street smarts and became an equities trader, now has fancy taste in food (check out his IG) and clothes (also his IG and he was trying on $100 watermelon swim trunks in Bloomingdales when he met up with Becca in Chicago), and everyone in the dentist’s office loves him. And he’s kind of neurotic, like a Woody Allen character, with being a hypochondriac at the nurse everyday on BIP. They should definitely have more people like Joe on TB.

He's so humble he can't even ask for votes in an aggressive manner. He's just too sweet.

“Vote for me, I guess, if you want to keep seeing me on TV,” Amabile said.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/tv/ct-ent-joe-amabile-dancing-with-the-stars-0924-story.html

@havadrpepper My bad, didn’t read it correctly.