‘The Golden Bachelorette’s Joan Vassos Teases Her “Meaningful” Season: “It Ended Exactly Like It Should. I’m In The Right Place”

Almost a year after Bachelor Nation watched 61-year-old school administrator Joan Vassos self-eliminate from The Golden Bachelor to tend to her daughter’s medical emergency, the fan-favorite Golden Gal is returning to the Bachelor Mansion for another shot at finding love. This time, she’s calling the shots as The Golden Bachelorette ‘s first-ever lead.

During her time on The Golden Bachelor, the mother of four and grandmother of three from Rockville, Maryland opened up about losing John, her husband of 32 years, to pancreatic cancer in 2021. While she’s not looking to replace the love of her life, Vassos set out on another once-in-a-lifetime journey in hopes of finding a big-hearted, generous, humble “gentleman” who could help fill her Golden Years with romance, adventure, and a committed partnership.

Before arriving at the mansion, Vassos was admittedly apprehensive about connecting with such a large cast of 24 eligible bachelors, who range from from 57 to 69 years old. In a Zoom interview ahead of her September 18 premiere, however, the relieved lead revealed that her group of guys pleasantly exceeded expectations.

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“I thought they were going to get together and talk about their golf game and how their baseball teams were doing. And that was so far from the truth. They talked about dating and they talked about their families. They talked about being single fathers and about being girl dads. And they were so vulnerable and so incredibly supportive of each other, like they had known each other for their whole lives,” Vassos told Decider. “They were best friends instantly. They were a lot more open, a lot more vulnerable, and a lot more like us women when we were entered the mansion. I felt like we were instant friends. That surprised me about them.”

Vassos’ suitors include a rancher, an ER doctor, a retired Navy Captain, a salon owner, several sweet grandpas, and with one familiar (very handsome) face: Mark Anderson, the 57-year-old father of Bachelor Season 28 winner Kelsey . After Anderson stole viewers’ hearts during his daughter’s Hometown Date with Joey Graziadei, Bachelor Nation petitioned for the rising senior to be the next Golden Bachelor lead, or at the very least, to join The Golden Bachelorette as a contestant. During The Bachelorette ‘s live finale earlier this month, fans got a sneak-peak of Kelsey lovingly handing her dad off to Vassos in front of the Bachelor Mansion, and while she carefully avoided spoilers, Vassos assured Decider that Anderson lived up to the hype.

“Mark is an amazing man. He’s like he was portrayed on Joey’s season. What a great family man. What a great father he is to all these kids. How encouraging he is, and how he guided his kids through look some really, really tough years. He is that exact person. He’s just solid,” Vassos explained. “He has this really kind of quiet and sturdy demeanor. He’s kind of soft-spoken and he’s very calming and just easy to be around, especially when you’re doing something this crazy and this intimidating. He was really good to bring you back down to Earth. And he was really easy to talk to — just an easy person to be around.”

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Anderson and his fellow contestants risked significant time away from their families to join The Golden Bachelorette , so Vassos, host Jesse Palmer, and the production team decided to give the guys a special surprise on Night 1 to help ease their separation anxiety. “They moved in on Father’s Day. So these men were all missing Father’s Day with their kids, which made me really sad for them and made me sad for their kids,” Vassos explained. “When you leave your family, you could potentially be gone for a lot of weeks. And that was really hard. It was really hard for me. And I knew it would be really hard for them.”

Since family is such a crucial part of Vassos’ life and she’s happily established in Maryland, don’t expect the end of her “meaningful” Golden Bachelorette journey to mirror past seasons. From the start of her seasons, Vassos was adamant that she wasn’t going to leave her family and she didn’t expect a potential partner to leave his life behind for her either. Heck, an engagement wasn’t even a must in her mind, though she said she’d be open to getting engaged and married again for the right person. Essentially, if Vassos emerges from the show in a committed relationship, she’s content living a dual life, doing long distance, and hopping back and forth between homes for extended periods of time to keep the romance alive.

Vassos and Bachelor Nation know that location can be a determining factor in a relationship — especially after watching The Golden Bachelor’s Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist get divorced mere months after their televised wedding event. Turner, who lives in Indiana, said he and Nist, who lives in New Jersey, couldn’t agree on a place to live and felt it was best to separate. Thankfully, the divorce didn’t deter Vassos from embarking on her own unconventional love story, and since their time on The Golden Bachelor , Vassos said she and Turner have remained good friends.

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“He drew the road map for this. It was brand new and he was the first ever Golden Bachelor . And he did a really good job of showing us how you have to act. He acted very open and vulnerable, particularly for a man. He was more than what I would have expected, and that encouraged us to be the same way. And so I really respected his opinion,” Vassos said. “I even had conversations with him before I came on the show to get advice… I think it was really important for me to hear what he had to say about things.”

Following The Golden Divorce and Jenn Tran’s recent Bachelorette season, which ended in unprecedented heartbreak, Vassos understands that some members of Bachelor Nation may be hesitant to invest in time and emotions in another season, but she hopes they’ll give her love story a shot.

“Everybody’s journey is different. If you look at all of the conclusions of Bachelor shows, every single one ends in a little bit of a different way. There are so many successes in Bachelor Nation, and there are some that don’t end in the epic fairytale. It’s like real life. Not every relationship ends perfectly,” she said. “I think you just have to stay tuned. I don’t think you should ever give up on love and you should never give up on the show, because every single season will surprise you. Some will make you thrilled and happy, and some will be like real life.”

As for Vassos’ finale and beyond, she considers herself happier today than she was before The Golden Bachelorette. “ I can say I have an original ending and it ended exactly like it should,” she teased. “I’m in the right place.”

The Golden Bachelorette premieres Wednesday, September 18 at 8:00 p.m. ET on ABC.

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