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Joan Vassos, the first-ever “Golden Bachelorette” begins her televised journey to find love tonight.
Vassos, who is 61, stepped foot into “Bachelor Nation” as a contestant on season one of “The Golden Bachelor” starring Gerry Turner.
After making an encouraging connection with Turner, Vassos was abruptly called home to provide support for her postpartum daughter, as previously reported by The Deseret News.
But the grandmother of two wasn’t ready to give up on finding love. She knows that “The Bachelor” spinoff series is a “weird” way to find love and that most couples from the show split up, but she’s jumping in with both feet.
“I know that it’s a weird way to meet somebody,” Vassos told The New York Times. “I get all that, and I consider myself not a naïve person.”
She continued: “Everybody was like, ‘Yeah, this is going to be really embarrassing, but you go right ahead and do it’ … ‘You deserve to find love.’”
In 2021, Joan Vassos lost her husband of 32 years to pancreatic cancer, per ABC. Vassos’ husband, John, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer on Valentine’s Day in 2018.
“I kept saying, ‘He’s going to make it,’” Vassos told The New York Times. “‘He’s strong, he’s young, he can do it.’”
Days before he passed, John called Vassos to his bedside and told her he hoped she would one day look for a new partner.
“Now I get up on a Saturday morning and it’s so quiet,” Vassos told The New York Times. It took Vassos a couple years to feel comfortable re-entering the dating scene, but when she finally did, she discovered how measly the 60s and up dating scene is.
“When we’re this age, people expect us to take a back seat now,” she said. “A lot of us feel like we’re still kind of young, and that we’re not ready to take that back seat yet.”
A brief stint as a contestant on “The Golden Bachelor” with Gerry Turner gave Joan an opportunity to get back into dating. She went home early to attended to a family emergency, but was selected in May as the lead for the first season of “The Golden Bachelorette.”
“I’m not here to replace dad,” she told her children in a promo clip for the series. “I just want our family to be whole again.”
“Golden Bachelorette” premieres on Wednesday, Sept 18 at 7 p.m. MDT. Subsequent episodes will air every following Wednesday at 7 p.m.
“Golden Bachelorette” airs live on ABC. It is available to stream the following day on Hulu.
Two dozen senior men — the average age of the men is 64 — will compete for Joan’s heart on “The Golden Bachelorette”
Age: 68
Occupation: Retired videographer
Hometown: Portland, Oregon
Age: 66
Occupation: Chiropractor
Hometown: Marina Del Ray, California
Age: 62
Occupation: Portfolio manager
Hometown: Rancho Palos Verdes, California
Age: 66
Occupation: Retired financial analyst
Hometown: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Age: 60
Occupation: Insurance executive
Hometown: Wichita, Kansas
Age: 64
Occupation: Contractor
Hometown: West Babylon, New York
Age: 64
Occupation: Private investigator
Hometown: Naples, California
Age: 68
Occupation: Rancher
Hometown: Austin, Texas
Age: 65
Occupation: Retired finance executive
Hometown: Palm Desert, California
Age: 60
Occupation: Educator
Hometown: Mission Viejo, California
Age: 64
Occupation: Retired university VP
Hometown: Longboat Key, Florida
Age: 66
Occupation: ER doctor
Hometown: Reno, Nevada
Age: 68
Occupation: Caterer
Hometown: Chicago, Illinois
Age: 61
Occupation: Shipping consultant
Hometown: Oakland, Iowa
Age: 61
Occupation: Sales manager
Hometown: Chicago, Illinois
Age: 62
Occupation: Girl dad
Hometown: San Jose, California
Age: 60
Occupation: Property management treasurer
Hometown: Peabody, Massachusetts
Age: 69
Occupation: Retired Navy captain
Hometown: Seattle, Washington
Age: 57
Occupation: Army veteran
Hometown: Leesville, Louisiana
Age: 65
Occupation: Retired banking CEO
Hometown: Denver, North Carolina
Age: 63
Occupation: Retired UN agency director
Hometown: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Age: 69
Occupation: Salon owner
Hometown: Chicago, Illinois
Age: 66
Occupation: Financial advisor
Hometown: Irvine, California
Age: 62
Occupation: Fire department chief
Hometown: New York, New York
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