As Taylor Swift says, love is golden and nothing proves that more than The Golden Bachelorette spoilers and Joan’s winner. Joan Vassos, who self-eliminated in 12th place on The Golden Bachelor Season 1 with Gerry Turner, was announced as the first Golden Bachelorette in May 2024, two months after ABC greenlit The Golden Bachelorette for a first season.
Joan, a 61-year-old Private School Administrator from Rockville, Maryland, sent herself home in Week 3 of The Golden Bachelor to be with her daughter, who was having a medical emergency. Joan is a mother of four and grandmother of two who was widowed after 32 years of marriage when her late husband, John Vassos, died in 2021 from pancreatic cancer. He was 59 years old.
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“I did not want to spend my life alone, so I knew that I had to take action, but my heart wasn’t there at all,” Joan told CNN in May 2024 of why she applied to be on The Golden Bachelor. “I was saying to my friend, ‘How in the world do you date now? Look around this restaurant. Everybody here is a couple. Everybody my age is married. All my friends are married.’” Once she got home, Joan saw a casting call for The Golden Bachelor on TV. “I was like, ‘The universe is talking to me,’” Joan said.
Joan’s Golden Bachelorette season started filming in late June 2024 and finished filming in early August 2024. Filming lasted for around one and a half months. In an interview with TV Insider before The Golden Bachelorette premiered, Joan confirmed that she was satisfied with how her season ended. But what does that mean exactly? Read on for The Golden Bachelorette spoilers, including who Joan’s winner was, courtesy of Reality Steve.
Related: Which couples are still together from The Bachelorette?
Chock Chapple, a 60-year-old Insurance Executive from Wichita, Kansas, got the first One-on-One Date of The Golden Bachelorette Season 1. For the date, Joan and Chock went to Disneyland in Anaheim, California, where they were seen talking on a bench near Sleeping Beauty’s castle and standing from a balcony on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.
Joan’s final four who received Hometown Dates on The Golden Bachelorette Season 1 were Jordan Heller, Chock Chapple, Pascal Ibgui, and Guy Gansert. Joan’s four Hometown Dates was an increase from the three Hometown Dates Gerry Turner had on Season 1 of The Golden Bachelor.
Jordan is from Riverwood, Illinois, but now lives in Chicago; Chock is from Wichita, Kansas; Pascal is from Glencoe, Illinois, but now lives in Chicago; while Guy is from Reno, Nevada. According to photos shared by Reality Steve, Joan and Pascal went to Hometown Coffee & Juice in Glencoe, and Joan and Jordan went to the Chicago Riverwalk.
Jordan, a 61-year-old Sales Manager, was sent home in fourth place at the rose ceremony after Hometown Dates, according to Reality Steve.
Pascal Ibgui, a 69-year-old Salon Owner from Glencoe, Illinois, self-eliminated in either the final two or three on The Bachelorette Season 1 as he wasn’t in love with Joan, according to Reality Steve. That means that either Pascal or Guy Gansert, a 66-year-old ER doctor from Reno, Nevada, was Joan’s runner-up.
Joan’s final three who received Fantasy Suite Dates on The Bachelorette Season 1 were Chock Chapple, Pascal Ibgui, and Guy Gansert. Either Guy, a 66-year-old ER Doctor from Reno, Nevada, or Pascal, a 69-year-old Salon Owner from Glencoe, Illinois, went home after Fantasy Suite dates, though Reality Steve couldn’t confirm who. Guy was sent home by Joan, while Pascal self-eliminated. Guy is also the ex-husband of former Nevada Senate member Heidi Gansert.
Chock Chapple, a 60-year-old Insurance Executive from Wichita, Kansas, was the winner of The Golden Bachelorette Season 1, according to Reality Steve. Joan gave Chock her final rose at the final rose ceremony in The Golden Bachelorette Season 1 finale, which he accepted. Reality Steve could not confirm whether Joan and Chock got engaged.
If Joan and Chock got engaged, it’s almost certain the ring was designed by Neil Lane, a celebrity jeweler, who has created engagement rings for The Bachelor, The Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise since 2008. Former host Chris Harrison told Entertainment Weekly in 2016 that Bachelor Nation couples must stay together for a set amount of time, otherwise they need to return the free engagement ring to Neil Lane. “There’s some rule, after a certain number of years, you get to keep it anyway,” he said. “But after months… it goes back.”
Lane told StyleCaster in 2016 that he doesn’t know what happens to the rings after couples break up, but that he creates them with the goal that the couple stays together. “I make rings hoping that people stay together forever, but after they get the ring, I don’t have a say in it, and what happens after that, I don’t know,” he said. “Where the ring goes, I have to say, I don’t really know. I just say it goes to ring heaven.”
Read The Golden Bachelorette’s official biography and fun facts for Joan’s winner, Chock, below:
“Chock is quite the catch! He’s kind, loves adventure, and has had a successful career owning his own business. Chock has a very full life with his kids, his adorable black Lab Super Tubbs, and his work, but he knows he’s missing the one thing he wants most — love. Chock truly believes love can be found at any age and is enthusiastic about finding that spark again. He’s hoping this is his moment to meet the adventurous, compassionate woman he’s been looking for. When Chock isn’t working or spending time with his kids, he loves exercising and rooting for the Kansas City Chiefs. His guilty pleasure is shopping, and he can’t resist a good sale! Chock is totally a relationship guy, so let’s see if Joan is the long-term love he’s been dreaming of.
Fun Facts:
• Chock is a self-proclaimed grill master.
• Chock once went nighttime shark diving in Australia
• Chock hopes that Chevy Camaros with T-tops make a comeback.”
