‘The Golden Bachelorette’s Joan Vassos Says Goodbye To Kelsey’s Dad Mark Anderson: “An Amazing Man… He Is That Exact Person”

Grab the tissues, Bachelor Nation. It’s time to kiss our dreams of reuniting with Joey Graziadei and Kelsey Anderson on a Golden Bachelorette Hometown Date goodbye.

That’s right, folks. The day we’ve been dreading has finally arrived: Joan Vassos sent Mark Anderson home during The Golden Bachelorette Episode 5. And though he didn’t land a Hometown Date, both Joan and host Jesse Palmer assured Decider that Mark is as great as he seemed on-screen.

“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,” Joan told Decider over Zoom. “He has this really 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.”

When Decider spoke to Palmer earlier in the season , we chatted about the unique opportunity he had to get to know Kelsey’s dad better after she won The Bachelor , and he also sang Mark’s praises.

Jesse Palmer Teases ‘The Golden Bachelorette’ Episode 3, Gerry Turner’s Return, And “Headwinds” In Joan Vassos’ Season

“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, and you can see why Kelsey’s as incredible as she is. Mark is such a stand-up guy. He’s way too handsome, first off. Aside from that, he’s just a very sweet, sweet man with who’s lived. He’s had a lot of experience. He’s had to overcome a lot in his life,” Palmer said. “He’s been an amazing father, and a rock for that family. He has so much to give. It’s easy to see why America is just so taken by him. Anybody that comes in contact with Mark, or has a chance to be around him, you can’t help but just be amazed by the type of person he is. He’s a really, really special man. In the simplest terms, I’ll just put it that way. Very, very special.”

Despite the serious love for Mark from Joan, Jesse, and his fellow contestants, in the end, he just wasn’t Joan’s person. And that’s OK! Joey wasn’t Charity’s person and look how well that turned out!

Bachelor Nation was smitten with the 57-year-old Army Veteran from Leesville, Louisiana since he made his franchise debut during Hometown Week on Joey’s season of The Bachelor . And from the moment Kelsey dropped him off at the mansion, Joan could tell he was a sweet, charming, and sensitive class act. Like Joan, whose husband of 32 years died from pancreatic cancer, Mark lost his wife Denise after a battle with Stage 4 breast cancer. The two bonded over their grief and personal experiences frequently throughout the season.

‘The Golden Bachelorette’ Episode 2 Recap: Who Went Home? And Who Got Joan’s First One-On-One Date?

In Episode 2, Mark put some smooth moves on Joan and asked to kiss her in German. Though his team didn’t win the Episode 3 kickball game, he showed his stuff in Episode 4’s StandUp To Cancer benefit strip show as a sexy firefighter. In Episode 5, the early frontrunner was the only man who hadn’t had a one-on-one date, and just as he started to get in his head and wonder if he was supposed to be on the journey, he saw the sign he needed to carry on: a hummingbird that reminded him of his late wife.

Mark ended up landing the final one-on-one date before Hometown Week, and though he and Joan shared great conversations and laughs, she ultimately felt something was missing and sent him home ahead of the rose ceremony. “I feel like you’ve grown so much personally and that your heart is mending, but I didn’t see me in our conversations while we were talking, and I didn’t feel like I imagined in us,” she said. “I just came into this a little too early for you, and I didn’t want to go into a rose ceremony when there are Hometowns at stake and not have a conversation with you first to say that I need somebody who is as far along in their journey as I am.”

Mark was understandably disappointed, but he said the experience changed him and he’d be leaving the show “a better human being, a better man, and a better father.” After he broke the news to his bros, the guys started crying, hugging Mark, and telling them how much they loved him. BRB sobbing!

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Though Mark’s goodbye was the standout from Episode 5, Joan said goodbye to two other fan-favorite frontrunners ahead of Hometown Week as well.

First was her first impression rose winner Keith Gordon, the 62-year-old a girl dad from San Jose, California who bonded with Joan over her love of wine and cheese on the beach. Keith charmed Joan the second he arrived to the Bachelor Mansion in an old station wagon strapped with luggage. Throughout their time together, Joan said Keith made her feel safe and reminded her of her late husband John. Keith also got an Episode 5 one-on-one date with Joan, where he opened up about his family and showed another side of himself, but ultimately Joan had stronger connections with her Final Four.

The final heartbreaking goodbye of the week was Jonathan Rone, the 61-year-old shipping consultant from Oakland, Iowa who hit it off with Joan on an early one-on-one. Jonathan may not have won the first impression rose, but he made quite the mark on Joan’s heart when he stepped out of the limo wearing a blindfold as a nod to her comments about feeling invisible. He got the prom king crown and first group date rose, got an early Episode 3 one-on-one where opened up to Joan after some horseback riding, and he turned heads in Episode 4 as Sergeant Sexy. Before Jonathan left, Joan walked him out for an extra-special goodbye and one final heart-to-heart. That’s how you know he was a good one!

We may have lost three of The Golden Bachelorette ‘s greatest guys in Episode 5, but here’s hoping we see them again at The Men Tell All and beyond. Until then, read Decider’s full Golden Bachelorette Episode 5 recap and get ready for Hometown Week.

New episodes of The Golden Bachelorette premiere Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. on ABC with next-day streaming on Hulu.

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