There’s no shortage of wacky ways to arrive at Bachelor Mansion — from coming equipped with a costume or flirty joke, to bringing an animal with you or rolling up in a vehicle other than the black, standard-issue limo.
But to meet Joan Vassos on The Golden Bachelorette, Jonathan Rone made one of the evening’s most memorable first impressions with one simple prop: a golden (of course) blindfold.“What you had to say about being invisible at our age really resonated with me,” he said during the Sept. 18 premiere. “So I wanted to make our first moment as special as I possibly could.”
He asked Joan to remove the mask — and while it’s not clear if it was love at first sight, it was certainly a moment.
Later, the 61-year-old shipping consultant from Oakland, Iowa, recited an original poem to Joan — an homage to her doing the same on The Golden Bachelor.
“I can feel it between us. He really makes a really good first impression,” Joan said in a confessional. “Very sincere.”
So, might that first impression turn into a lasting love match? Here’s a look at the clues about whether Joan and Jonathan are together after The Golden Bachelorette. Spoilers ahead!
Jonathan’s Journey To Bachelor Nation
During Week 2’s “Senior Senior Prom,” Jonathan opened up about his own experience with the rite of passage. Sadly, he never experienced it — explaining to Joan that he asked a girl to the dance, but she changed her mind.
The experience had a lasting effect on his dating outlook. “I started to create that harder shell to protect myself,” he explained.
But he said his heart “healed” spending time with Joan, who was moved by the way he opened up and crowned him prom king. “He is such a handsome guy,” she said. “He’s so deep and he was vulnerable — I just feel special in his arms. He’s a good man. Somebody I could, you know, possibly picture a future with.”
It’s a promising clue about the pair’s future. Surprisingly, Jonathan nearly missed out on the show (and Joan!) altogether. As he explained to The Wrap, he stumbled upon the opportunity while on the apps.
“I was on a dating profile and I swiped right on someone that I thought was attractive [and] she matched with me, and her first contact with me was, ‘Hey, Jonathan, what do you think about being on The Golden Bachelorette?’” Jonathan recalled. “If I would have swiped left, I wouldn’t be here.”
Joan & Jonathan’s Spoilers Say…
So far, Joan and Jonathan seem like one of The Golden Bachelorette’s stronger connections. But will it last?
According to Reality Steve, the answer is sadly no. While the Bachelor Nation blogger and podcaster didn’t share too many specifics about The Golden Bachelorette exits, he did report on Joan’s final four men that make it to hometowns — and Jonathan is not among them.
Fortunately, final rose or not, it seems that Jonathan’s time on the show has already been a healing experience.
