Joan Vassos' eyes were wide as she stood in front of the Agoura Hills mansion that is the setting for ABC's “The Bachelor” franchise. A large crew of technicians and producers were working nearby, preparing to film Vassos' introduction as “The Golden Bachelorette.”
“I’m feeling everything there is to feel,” she said, waving her arms as she looked at host Jesse Palmer. “I never in a million years imagined I’d be back here.”
The 61-year-old school administrator was in the same place about a year ago when she met retired widower Gerry Turner, the star of “The Golden Bachelor,” the latest iteration of the veteran dating franchise. She competed with 21 other older women to become Turner’s next wife.
Although Vassos and Turner had an initial spark, she abruptly left the show in the third week to care for her daughter, who was suffering from postpartum depression.
Now he has a second chance. Vassos, who lives in Maryland, is back, but this time she is the center of attention on “The Golden Bachelorette,” which premieres Sept. 18. Her squad of 24 suitors range in age from 57 to 69 and includes a retired U.S. Navy captain, a retired U.N. agency director, a rancher and an emergency room doctor.
Producers are hoping to regain ratings with the sequel to the series that was one of the top shows of the fall 2023 season while also giving “The Bachelor” franchise a shot of fresh energy.
Joan Vassos was one of the 22 contestants on “The Golden Bachelor,” but she had to abruptly leave the show to help care for her daughter.
(Gilles Mingasson/Disney)
But despite the heavy promotional campaign, “The Golden Bachelorette” is facing a more questionable reception. Last week, “The Bachelorette” was dealing with a racial scandal following the series’ live finale, with many decrying the cruel treatment of its first Asian lead, Jenn Tran.
As for “The Golden Bachelor,” Turner divorced after three months of marriage and erased much of the luster from that series, which might make some viewers wary of Vassos’ turn in the spotlight.
Her experience has already been heartbreaking. Since losing her husband of 32 years to cancer in 2021, Vassos has managed her grief with the support of family and friends. But that didn't ease her fear of living the rest of her life without love.
“I felt like I was living on an island,” she said in a video interview. “I felt so alone, I thought people would set me up with guys, but that didn’t happen. It’s tough out there. The world is made up of couples. But we all deserve love.”
After online dating proved too challenging, Vassos took the biggest leap of faith by participating in “The Golden Bachelor.”
“I feel very fortunate to have been chosen to do this,” said Joan Vassos, star of “The Golden Bachelorette.”
(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)
“I feel very lucky to have been chosen to do this,” she said. “I've learned a lot about myself and how to find love in this world.”
If Vassos had any anxiety about becoming the new face of the popular franchise, it didn't show during her first night of filming. She seemed excited to meet her potential new boyfriends.
“My late husband John would love this,” she said. “He was a huge fan of reality TV. I’m sure he’s looking at us now and saying, ‘That’s my wife down there! ’”
Minutes later, a limousine arrived carrying the first group of suitors. Some of the men, who had just met for the first time, gasped at the sight of Vassos, who looked like a movie star in her sparkling dress. They talked among themselves: “My God, there she is!” “She doesn’t even look real.” “Hey, Jordan, don’t take her.”
Vassos seemed delighted as the men emerged one by one, each determined to make a colorful first impression. One man sang Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” to her as he approached. Another shouted “let the music play” and danced toward her. A third, carrying a cane, struggled to cross the driveway.
“Can I help you?” Vassos asked. He waved her off, but then fell forward. As she approached worriedly, he began doing push-ups before jumping up with a smile.
As the “Eligible Bachelorette,” Vassos said she wants to continue Turner's inspirational message, emphasized throughout her season: that older people still have plenty of energy, sex drive and physical vitality.
Jordan, a contestant on “The Golden Bachelorette,” meets Joan Vassos for the first time at the Agoura Hills mansion where the show is filmed.
(Gilles Mingasson/Disney)
“I don’t want this to be about me. I want it to be a message of hope,” Vassos said. “I love hearing stories from people who watched ‘The Golden Bachelor’ and said it gave them a new sense of hope. At our age, people expect us to just sit back and become a support for a new generation, children and grandchildren. I felt guilty because I want more than that.”
And while the focus on older people having fun and kissing drew fans outside of Bachelor Nation's core fanbase, the memory of “The Golden Bachelor”'s shocking epilogue may still be fresh in the minds of viewers who might be reluctant to return for the sequel.
Turner achieved his goal of finding a wife and proposed to financial services representative Theresa Nist at the end of the season. They rushed into marriage in a live televised ceremony, dubbed “The Golden Wedding,” but their union was short-lived and ended in divorce after just three months, disappointing millions of viewers who had invested in their love story.
Explaining the split, Turner said the two couldn't agree on where they would live together. He lives in Indiana and Nist, who lives in New Jersey, was reluctant to leave her family and job.
Asked about viewers’ wariness about investing in Vasso’s journey following Turner and Nist’s breakup, “The Bachelor” executive producers and showrunners Bennett Graebner and Claire Freeland responded in an email: “We’re always disappointed when one of our couples doesn’t work out. However, The Bachelor franchise is no different than life outside the confines of the television screen: Sometimes marriages last forever, sometimes they don’t.”
“I don’t want this to be about me. I want it to be a message of hope,” Joan Vassos said about her participation in “The Golden Bachelorette.”
(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)
But they praised Vassos and expressed confidence in choosing her as “The Golden Bachelorette.” “We were lucky that so many of the women on Gerry’s inaugural season were worthy of being the first Golden Bachelorette,” they wrote. “We could have done a fantastic season with any of them. However, we keep coming back to Joan… she deserved a second chance.”
Vassos said fans shouldn't be discouraged by what happened with Turner and Nist.
“I know their love was very real,” she said. “You could see the disappointment in how it ended. In my heart I feel like we should give them understanding and grace. It wasn’t easy for them to part ways.”
She added that she's going into this journey with different expectations. “I don't expect anyone to move for me and I wouldn't want to leave my family and move far away,” Vassos said. “I just want to end this journey with a significant other, someone I may or may not be committed to. But we can continue our relationship outside of The Bachelor bubble.”
To prepare for her close-up, Vassos said she researched several seasons of “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette.” “I wanted to see what was effective and what wasn’t,” she said. “I got advice from Gerry and other Bachelorettes. This was going to be the biggest journey of my life, so I wanted to be really prepared.”
Vassos was in the audience for the live finale of “The Bachelorette” last week and had a front-row seat to what became the latest misstep for the franchise, which has added to questions about its ability to reverse its decades-long history of racism and cultural sensitivity.
Tran got engaged to Devin Strader, the owner of a trucking company, in Hawaii. But when she took the stage, a visibly distraught Tran revealed that Strader broke off the engagement after leaving the show. Producers are accused of traumatizing and humiliating Tran during the staging of a reunion with Strader by showing the proposal after detailing their split.
The mood changed after the tense segment when Palmer turned to Vassos. As he hyped the impending arrival of “The Golden Bachelorette,” the audience gave Vassos a resounding standing ovation.
As he looked around the studio, Vassos beamed: “You're in for a really emotional ride.”
