Beloved Reality Star and ‘DWTS’ Alum Reveals Brain Tumor Diagnosis

Beloved Bachelorette alum Joe Amabile has been diagnosed with a brain tumor, he revealed on Monday. He will undergo surgery to remove the mass.

The 40-year-old reality contestant known by Bachelor Nation fans as “Grocery Store Joe” gave a health update on Instagram on Monday. “So a little medical update,” he said in a video, adding that after undergoing a full-body MRI scan, Amabile’s doctors “ended up finding a lesion in my brain. So then I had to go get a brain MRI, and there was a blueberry-sized lesion in my brain that looks to be a glioma, which is a tumor.”

Amabile, who also competed on Season 27 of Dancing With the Stars, said he will “now need to get brain surgery in two weeks to get it removed and get it tested, and then we’re gonna go from there. So it’s been a wild couple weeks. Definitely wasn’t expecting this.”

“I think it’s one of those things where you’re like, ‘Oh, something like this will never happen to me’ — and here I am,” he continued. “They say it’s really early stages. I hope they are able to get it all, and I’m fine. But I will keep you updated.”

ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" - Season 27 - Portraits — DANCING WITH THE STARS – Dancing with the Stars is waltzing its way into its upcoming season, and the new celebrity cast is adding some glitzy bling to their wardrobe, breaking in their dancing shoes and readying themselves for their first dance on the ballroom floor, as the season kicks off MONDAY, SEPT. 24 (8:00-10:00 p.m. EDT), on The Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images Television Network. (Craig Sjodin/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images) JOE “GROCERY STORE JOE” AMABILE

In the caption of the video, he tagged New York City’s renowned Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where he’ll be having the surgery, and wrote that he is “doing my best to stay positive during this time and am lucky to have a lot of support from family and friends.”

Amabile got his start in reality TV as a contestant on Season 14 of The Bachelorette in 2018 after working as the co-owner of Eric’s Food Center in Chicago. He then appeared on Seasons 5 and 7 of Bachelor in Paradise in 2018 and 2021, respectively, proposing to his now-wife, Serena Pitt, on the finale of Season 7.

He competed on Dancing With the Stars Season 27 in 2018 with pro partner Jenna Johnson. They were eliminated during Week 8, tying with Fuller House star Juan Pablo Di Pace for fifth place.

Amabile received many well wishes from his extended reality TV family in the comments of his post. Bachelorette Season 17 star Thomas Jacobs joked, “If there’s one thing the Grocer knows, it’s produce. This little blueberry doesn’t stand a chance!” Wells Adams wrote, “Love you brother. You got this and we’ve got you!” DWTS pro Alan Bersten commented, “Bro you know how much I love you. Sending you so much positivity and support. You got this.”