The 61-year-old private school administrator was a contestant on Gerry Turner’s season of “The Golden Bachelor.”
There’s a new look at the upcoming debut season of “The Golden Bachelorette” with star Joan Vassos.
As ABC’s first golden bachelorette, Vassos, 61, is opening up to her family about how she’s feeling ahead of filming her season of the reality TV show.
A new clip shared on July 29, Vassos is seen in the kitchen with her mother, May, and former mother-in-law, Elaine. The women are then joined by Vassos’ daughter Ally, son Nick and his fiancée Brooke.
“Mom, how do you feel about kissing another guy on TV?” her daughter asks, before she replies, “Oh jeez, I’m going to have to get used to that because you don’t want to be with somebody that you don’t like to kiss. So you have to, like, try it out.”
Adding, “I’m going to probably kiss a fair amount of guys on camera. I’m sorry, guys.”
Her son quickly quips, “A fair amount?!”
While her children said they were “not expecting” that response, she goes on to get her family’s help with what to ask her suitors on the first night.
She also shares that she’s looking for a gentleman “with a big heart,” generous and humble.
Proposing a toast during a family dinner, she stresses that she is “not here to replace dad. I just want our family to be whole again.”
Vassos’s husband of 32 years, John Vassos, died in 2021 from pancreatic cancer. They had four children together.
Read on for everything we know about the first season of “The Golden Bachelorette” with Joan Vassos.
‘The Golden Bachelorette’ is announced
On May 14, ABC announced that Vassos is embarking on her journey to find love on “The Golden Bachelorette.”
The “Golden Bachelorette” Instagram account uploaded a video that showed Vassos picking up a golden rose before turning around to reveal her sparkling gold gown, as Natasha Bedingfield’s “Unwritten” plays in the background.
“I’m Joan, and I’m your first ‘Golden Bachelorette,’” she says in the clip.
Rob Mills, the ABC unscripted chief, celebrated the casting news in a post on X. “Joan is your #GoldenBachelorette!!!” he cheered. “It’s going to be fantastic! The guys are great! The dates are great!”
When will ‘The Golden Bachelorette’ premiere?
Vassos’ season will premiere on Sept. 18, 2024. Episodes will air on Wednesdays on ABC and stream the next day on Hulu.
Bachelor Nation first learned details of the inaugural season of “The Golden Bachelorette” in February when the network revealed it would premiere in the fall. But fans started speculating who would get the opportunity to lead a potential “Golden Bachelorette” series as “The Golden Bachelor” was still unfolding.
What to know about Joan Vassos
Vassos became a fan favorite on Gerry Turner’s “The Golden Bachelor” after her unexpected departure from the show. She was introduced to Bachelor Nation as a private school administrator from Rockland, Maryland, with an emotional backstory.
Her ABC cast bio revealed that Vassos has four children and two grandkids. It also said that her husband of 32 years died after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
On the show, Vassos bonded with Turner, whose first wife, high school sweetheart Toni, died of an illness in 2017.
Turner helped Vassos open up and in Episode Three, he invited her on a one-on-one date after she impressed him with her charming poetry skills during the group talent show. They enjoyed a romantic dinner and she spoke about her past, sharing that it had only been a couple years since her husband had died.
Vassos received a date rose but later in the episode learned some upsetting news. She told Turner that she needed to leave the show because her postpartum daughter was struggling at home.
“My family will always be first. Once you become a mom, you’re always a mom even when your kids are older. Nothing is more important,” Vassos told him. They said goodbye, cutting their love story short.
Following her departure, fans expressed that they were vying for her to be the future “Golden Bachelorette.” Now, Vassos is getting that chance to find love and hopefully will leave the show with a happier ending.
Although Vassos was one of Bachelor Nation’s top picks for a “Golden Bachelorette” season, some fans had wondered if contestants who made it further into the competition, like runner-up Leslie Fhima, would be chosen as the next lead.
Turner tearfully broke up with Fhima in the final episode after realizing he was in love with Nist. He proposed to Nist and the two said “I do” during a televised wedding special in January.
However, the couple announced their split in an interview with ABC News on April 12.
“Theresa and I have had a number of heart-to-heart conversations, and we’ve looked closely at our situation, our living situation, so forth and — and we’ve kind of come to the conclusion mutually that it’s probably time for us to — dissolve our marriage,” Turner explained in the interview.
Nist said, “We have received so much love and support from so many people who watched ‘The Golden Bachelor,’ and I don’t think we can tell you how many people told us that it gave them so much hope. We want none of that to change for anybody.”
Turner filed for divorce soon after.
What has Joan Vassos said about being the first Golden Bachelorette?
Vassos previously shared a video on Instagram June 12 of herself packing for the show. In the clip, she shows a whole suitcase full of shoes, and she asks someone if she could borrow their black dress, seemingly her daughter as the text reads, “love sharing clothes with my daughters.”
“I am getting ready to leave tomorrow,” she said in the clip while “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter played in the background. “And I’m packing and it’s a disaster here because I have no idea what to bring because I don’t know what any of the dates are.”
Vassos added that leaving her home is “bittersweet” and “a little scary” because she’ll be away from her family for seven weeks. However, she believes it’s worth taking the leap to find love.
“In the end, I could come back and maybe have the love of my life, and someone to share my great life with,” she says.
In the caption, Vassos wrote, “Excited, nervous, and overpacked… but, mostly ready to get this golden journey started ✨ Feeling all the feels as I pack up to start my next chapter at the Bachelor Mansion 🌹”
She penned that she’s “never been this vulnerable and grateful at the same time” and thanked her friends, family and fans for all the support.
“I’m not sure what this journey holds, but if it’s anything like my suitcase, it’s sure to be FULL of surprises! Here I go…,” she finished.
In the comments, Nist wished Vassos well.
“Sending you so much love and support as you embark on this amazing journey, my friend. I am so incredibly excited for you!! I’ll be thinking about you and sending you only good thoughts,” Nist wrote. “Now go have the time of your life, Joan!!!”
