Golden Bachelorette Joan Vassos on her 'very awkward' night-one moment

She danced, she slurped soup and prune juice, she played pickleball, T-ball, and corn hole in high heels. On her first night as the Golden Bachelorette, Joan Vassos kept very busy — because the 24 men hoping to win her heart worked overtime to woo her.

"I love that they all made efforts to differentiate themselves because it's really important," Joan tells Entertainment Weekly. "You're meeting a lot of people at once, and it's hard to remember names, but you do remember the things that they do."

The 61-year-old star of The Golden Bachelorette shared her thoughts with EW about watching the premiere back for the first time, why she gave Keith the First Impression Rose, and her most awkward moment of the night. (And no, it was not when she said "There were balls flying everywhere!")

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Congrats on a great premiere. Watching it back, what was your favorite moment to see that you didn’t see that night?

JOAN VASSOS: I don't get to see anything that happens in the mansion at all. It was so fun watching each man enter, and about their reactions with each other and the conversations they were having. I loved how much they all loved me, which is hilarious, but I loved to see how supportive they were. Every person who walked in, they welcomed him with open arms. I loved Jack. He was hilarious. The conversations were just, it showed their true personalities that I got to know later, but they were on their game the minute they walked in that door.

Some of the men showed up with gifts for you, including a sand dollar and shots of prune juice. Chock arrived with homemade soup that he wanted you to taste. On a scale of one to 10, how worried were you about spilling the soup on your beautiful gown?

That was hilarious. Well, eating soup on a first meeting is just weird. You would never order soup at a restaurant on the first date. I leaned over and I didn't want to spill it, so embarrassingly, everyone will hear me slurping it. I didn't know how to eat it. I didn't want to ruin my lipstick — there were a lot of issues with the dress and the lipstick, and now the slurp. Maybe Campbell's will call me and want me to be in a commercial or something, slurping their soup. [Laughs] I was also a little nervous about playing pickleball in high heels, and drinking prune juice. I don't think I've ever drank prune juice before, and I had to do a shot of it. It's not that bad, actually.

So the prune juice sat ok with you?

Yeah, I could have a bad result. I was hoping that he just called it prune juice, and it was really, like, [a drink with] vodka or something. But it was really prune juice.

I was glad to see you actually get to eat the meal that Jack made you, which looked amazing. So how important are cooking skills for you in a mate?

He either needs to be able to make good reservations or cook — one of the two. Although I like to cook, I hate to grocery shop, so I really want somebody who will do the grocery shopping, and I'm happy to do the cooking. I'm also not big on the cleanup, and it always seems to be my job anyway. I like eating at home, honestly, at least a couple nights a week. I do like going out, but I love to eat at home. I love just the experience of relaxing, and you can put on a Netflix series or Hulu series that you've been watching, and you can put your comfy clothes on and eat a good meal and watch TV or sit out in your back deck and enjoy the night, which is a little different when you go out. So, cooking is important. Somebody needs to be able to do it a couple nights a week. And if I find a guy that can pitch in on some of those duties, I'll be very happy.

How was Jack’s beef dish?

It was delicious. That man can cook. The sauce was incredible. It smelled so good. I actually looked over it and the producers, and I'm like, “Am I really allowed to eat this?” And they're like, “Yeah.” And I was like, "oh my God, I'm so happy." It smelled so good, and I was starving. It had been a long night by that point. I bet I only got to eat a few bites because then the next guy comes and steals you. But the man is a good cook, and he has a great voice, too.

You mentioned the pickleball game. I need to know what was going through your head when that pickleball free-for-all broke out. It looked like pandemonium!

It was. Whose idea was that? [Laughs] Just playing pickleball in a evening gown in high heels is very hard. Luckily Jordan is really good, and he hit the ball pretty close to me at all times. But when everybody came out and all those balls started flying, I slowly inched my way to the back. I was like, “I'm going to get hit by one of these balls.” I just felt like I was in the line of fire, so I kind of scooched my way back and let them duke it out.

All the men went out of their way to make little special moments with you, but you had to pick one for the First Impression Rose. How did you decide to give it to Keith?

Well, I love that they all made efforts to differentiate themselves because it's really important. You're meeting a lot of people at once, and it's hard to remember names, but you do remember the things that they do. So, the person that gave me the prune juice, I remember that, and what he did for a living. What they did was a little more ingrained in my memory than their names a lot of times. So, when Keith drove up in that old station wagon, it just kind of reminded me of my childhood. We had a station wagon very similar to that, and we used to take family vacations in our station wagon, which it was kind of nice to hear that he had the same memories. It was a little nostalgic.

Then we sat on the hood of it and we talked, and that just felt really natural. I think I have a picture of my mom and dad with ice cream cones in their hands right before they were married, sitting on the hood of an old car like that. And I just kind of felt like them when I was sitting there, weirdly. When our time together was over and we were getting the signal to move on, Keith said, “Why don't we just grab a bottle of wine and some cheese and just go to the beach and sit on a blanket?” And I was like, “Oh my God, that would feel so good right now. I really want to do that.”

When I got to go in inside and talk to him and have a little conversation there, that comfortable feeling continued. It was way more about the feeling I got when I was with him, how I felt safe. He’s this big guy, he was kind of like a teddy bear. It was more about the feeling that made me want to give him the first impression rose.

I have to ask, though, what is going through your mind when you're walking past all the men holding the First Impression Rose, and they’re all looking at you expectantly?

It's bad! They're all such gentlemen, so they all stand up every time I walk in a room and I'm like, this is so awkward. When I went in to grab the rose, some of them were like, “What is she doing?” Some people didn't even know what it was. And then I walked out in front of all those people outside and they all are like, “Joan!” like I’m coming out to talk to them. I’m like, “I'm just passing through. Sorry!” It felt very awkward. I felt really bad. Obviously then all of those people knew that they weren't getting it. I remember that moment when Gerry did it, and I was one of the people sitting outside and Faith was sitting really close to me, and he came in and said, “Faith, can I talk to you for a minute?” I was like, “Oh, she's getting that First Impression Rose.” So you kind of know before they do. Every one of those men knew before poor Keith. It’s very awkward. Like you're breaking bad news to somebody without actually telling them.

After you gave Keith the First Impression Rose, you two shared a very chaste smooch. Going into that first night, were you thinking, “I’m not going to kiss anybody,” or were you open to being flexible in the moment?

I didn't really have a rule for myself that I was going to, or I wasn't going to. I know that my kids really didn't want me to kiss anybody on camera, and I knew that that was never going to be the case. I honestly do believe a physical connection is important, so you're going to have to kiss some people. I didn't honestly think I would kiss somebody the first night, but it certainly didn't feel unnatural. Like you said, it wasn't some big epic kiss, but it felt right. It felt right in the moment, and I was never going to stop something that felt right. So if it felt right, I was going to let it happen. It felt right to me.

The Golden Bachelorette airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on ABC.