Disney
America, it’s time to meet your very first “Golden Bachelorette.”
As the spinoff of the hit “Golden Bachelor” (itself, a spinoff of “The Bachelor”) is poised to hit airwaves, 61-year-old Joan Vassos, the “Golden Bachelorette,” is ready for her shining moment as she wades through 24 suitors from all across the US on her quest for true love.
Here is your primer on all things Joan to get you primed and ready for TV’s first-ever “Bachelorette” over the age of 60.
“The Golden Bachelorette” premieres tonight, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC with a special two-hour episode, so bring sustenance.
She is a school administrator
Vassos works as a school administrator in her native Maryland at the Landon School, according to her LinkedIn profile. She primarily focuses on alumni relations and annual giving. She was promoted in 2021 and previously had jobs as a special projects consultant and interior designer. Vassos graduated from the University of Maryland College Park in 1985 with a bachelor’s degree in computer science.
She was married for 32 years
Vassos was married to her husband, John, for 32 years before he died suddenly of pancreatic cancer in 2021. She paid tribute to him in January on the three-year anniversary of his death in a post on Instagram.
“He was the husband that always made me feel safe and cherished,” she captioned a photo of her, John and their children. “He was the parent that was always the fun one because that’s all he knew how to do…lucky kids because fun in his book was generally epic. I could go on for hours, you all know that though.”
“Honestly, I think that’s how he would want to be remembered…by not forgetting him,” she added. “Please keep telling the stories, don’t worry, they don’t make me sad…let’s be honest, most of them are funny!”
She ended the post with, “As the Greeks say, ‘May his memory be eternal.’”
She was a contestant on “The Golden Bachelor”
Vassos was one of the contestants on the premiere season of “The Golden Bachelor” vying for the show’s titular bachelor Gerry Turner’s hand. However, she left after three weeks to help her daughter, who was having a hard time after a difficult birth.
“My journey to find love took a detour this week as I traded the mansion for motherhood and headed home to be with my family,” she shared on Instagram in October 2023. “Family comes first, period. Once a mother, always a mother, I’ll always choose my kids first. Thank you for all of your outpouring love and support, for not only me but also my daughter – everyone is now healthy and happy! As for me and my journey to love… guess we will have to see where it takes me next. Until then, stay golden ✨✨🌹.”
Vassos almost returned to the show, but, in the end, the timing didn’t work out for all parties.
“I got home, and my plan was to give [my daughter] some care — I needed to get her some mental health care,” Vassos said in an interview with The Wrap. “I was in the process of doing that, and I was approached, and they said, ‘Do you want to come back?’ and I said, ‘Yeah, I’d love to come back, let me see how I’m doing with my daughter.’”
She is a mother of four and a grandmother of three kids
Vassos has four children with her late husband: Allison, Nicholas, Erica and Luke. She has often said how much they mean to her.
“It’s a privilege to be a mom to four amazing kids and a grandmother (they call me Jojo) to two beautiful grandchildren,” she said in a statement posted to her Instagram story in October 2023 when she departed “The Golden Bachelor.” “But once a mom, always a mom and sometimes the timing doesn’t work out with finding love.”
She added, “Everyone at home is doing great and I hope one day I will get the chance at love again.”
She has two grandsons and one granddaughter, who she kept close to her heart while filming “The Golden Bachelorette,” thanks to a digital picture frame her daughters, Allison and Erica, gave her to take with her while she was on the show. “I would come home every night from filming tired,” Vassos told TV Insider. “My little frame would be sending me the grandbabies on the Fourth of July or at the swimming pool. It was the greatest.”
She is still friends with her ‘Golden Bachelor’ castmates
Vassos has kept in touch with her fellow “The Golden Bachelor” alum, who called themselves “The Golden Girls.” Vassos even attended Turner’s “Golden Wedding” to contestant Theresa Nist (the couple finalized their divorced 5 months after they took their vows). Vassos also competed on “Celebrity Family Feud” alongside fellow “Golden Girls” Susan Noles, Kathy Swarts, Leslie Fhima, and Natascha Hardee.
She applied for ‘The Golden Bachelor’ after an awful night at a bar
Vassos didn’t feel comfortable dating again until two years after her husband’s death, according to a New York Times profile. Unfortunately, her friends didn’t know anyone to set her up with, and she didn’t feel the men she encountered on dating apps were not being truthful in their profiles. But she hit a low point when she went out to a bar with a friend last year and assumed that every man she saw around her age was married. Later that night, she saw a casting call for “The Golden Bachelor.” She was a longtime fan of “The Bachelor” franchise and decided to apply, filling out the application on her phone and making several typos, according to The Times. One month later, she got a call from “The Golden Bachelor” casting team.
Her son says only the smartest men will impress her
“The Bachelor” may be known for leaning into the age-old adage, “sex sells,” but Vassos’ son, Nick, said it will take much more than looks and charisma to win his mom over. “She likes to be challenged, and I think that’s what she’s looking for,” he told The New York Times. According to the outlet, Nick believes “that only the smartest men would impress her.”
For her part, Vassos has said she is looking for someone with emotional vulnerability. “I’m very picky about a man being a gentleman,” she told People in July. “Somebody with a big heart, somebody who is generous and also somebody who’s humble.”
She felt like she “cheated” on her husband after going on “The Golden Bachelor”
After departing “The Golden Bachelor,” Vassos was left feeling guilty about pursuing romance again for the first time since her husband John’s death in 2021.
“It was in my face that I was feeling really guilty, honestly, about having feelings for somebody else,” Vassos told People. “I almost felt like I was cheating on John, which is crazy because he’s passed away.”
She also worried what her late husband would think of her decision to go on a reality TV dating show before she officially joined “The Golden Bachelor” cast.
However, a friend reminded Vassos that her husband loved reality TV. “She was like, ‘He’s up there saying to everybody: Look it, that’s my wife down there, that’s my wife!’” she told The New York Times.
“The Golden Bachelorette” premieres Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC and will air Wednesdays from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.