Joan Vassos’ journey for love is fast approaching! On Wednesday, ABC announced that the first-ever season of The Golden Bachelorette will premiere Wednesday, Sept. 18.
Fans first met Joan on the inaugural season of The Golden Bachelor, which starred Gerry Turner. Joan ended up self-eliminating from the series over health concerns for her daughter, but Bachelor Nation remained a fan of the school administrator.
When Joan landed the leading role in May, viewers — and franchise stars — were delighted to welcome her back onto their screen.
Joan’s search for love comes after John, her husband of 32 years, died in 2021 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 59.
“I feel like he maybe had a little hand in me actually getting here, honestly,” Joan told ET. “He told me right before he passed away, ‘You need to go out and find somebody else. You were the best wife in the world and I want you to be happy.’ He gave me this wonderful gift before he died, and he said go and do something, and so here I am.”
As for the kind of man she’s looking for, the mom of four and grandmother of two said she wants “a family man,” who’s kind and gentlemanly.
“I’m also looking for somebody that has a little sense of adventure. I worked my whole life getting to this place in life, and had planned on having all those adventures with John,” Joan told ET. “When that all kind of vanished, I really missed that thought of planning a future with somebody and doing some fun things.”
“I am ready for somebody that has a little sense of adventure and ready to have some fun,” she added. “You only get to do this once. You only get to live once. It’s a big world and I’m ready to see it. I feel like I gotta get moving.”
When it comes to the results she hoping to get from The Golden Bachelorette, Joan said she’s “trying to go in with no expectations” and with the mindset that “what happens, happens.”
“I’m hopeful and I don’t have any idea what it looks like, honestly, but I believe that it’s possible,” she said. “That took a long time for me to get to that place, so I am so happy I’m at that place. I just wonder what it’s gonna be and I hope it’s gonna be in this house.”
