“Golden Bachelorette” Joan Vassos on the divorce of Gerry and Theresa
Joan Vassos, “The Golden Bachelorette,” tells USA TODAY’s Bryan Alexander if Gerry and Theresa’s divorce had an impact on her season.
LOS ANGELES — We’re already dealing with a bit of a lie situation before Joan Vassos takes on the lead role in the history-making TV series “The Golden Bachelorette” on Wednesday (8 EDT/PDT).
Vassos, 61, says her four adult children supported her when they learned that the private school principal from Rockville, Maryland, would become ABC’s Golden Bachelorette – the first graduating woman to seek love following the successful first season of “The Golden Bachelor” last year, which featured 24 male contestants her own age.
However, the Vassos clan collectively (and wrongly) demanded that the grandmother of three children not be allowed to kiss anyone on television and vetoed the Fantasy Suites evenings that were a staple of the franchise.
“You have to kiss a few frogs to find your prince,” Vassos tells USA TODAY. “So I promised them I wouldn’t, even though I knew I was lying the whole time. They don’t know and I’m not going to tell them.”
Premiere of the “Golden Bachelorette”: Joan Vassos meets Kelsey Anderson’s “Hot Dad” Mark, who is already a star
That’s a clear no for Vassos, who was a brief bright spot among the 22 contestants on “Golden Bachelor.” Vassos, whose husband of 32 years died in 2021, bonded with widower Gerry Turner and coped with the loss of their respective long-term spouses during an emotional but romantic dinner in Episode 3. Then she tearfully withdrew (or “self-eliminated”) from the reality show the next morning due to a family emergency.
Although it hurt at the time, Vassos believes Bachelor Nation welcomed her move to leave the Bachelor mansion to care for her daughter, who was recovering from a difficult birth.
“At that age, you have a lot of responsibilities – my kids, my 92-year-old mother, my mother-in-law,” says Vassos. “Her retirement from the show resonated with people.”
Vassos believes that her sad, early TV exit was a major reason why she received a surprise call from three show producers who asked her to take a second chance at TV love on “Golden Bachelorette.”
“There were people who had been on the show much longer and perhaps deserved it more,” says Vassos. “But it was a good decision.”
“Golden Bachelorette” Vassos felt “pressure” after splitting from “Golden Bachelor”
There were also downsides to embarking on the high-profile TV dating experience. As fans know, the initially exuberant “Golden Bachelor” season faltered, exacerbated by the revelation of Turner’s “not-so-golden past” in the Nov. 29 Hollywood Reporter, which alleged the Indiana-based widower misled viewers about his love life and professional qualifications. Turner, who declined to comment on the report, married Theresa Nist in a Jan. 4 wedding broadcast live from Palm Spring, Calif. The couple, however, announced their divorce just three months later in an April 12 “GMA” interview. The experience left a bad impression on the “Golden” brand.
Vassos remains respectful of Turner and the couple’s “journey,” as such love stories are commonly referred to as such.
“We all saw that it didn’t work out,” she says. “And I welcome the fact that they say it’s over now and we’re young enough to still find love in our lives.”
Still, Vassos admits that the reality show’s disappointing episodes are raising expectations for her Golden Bachelorette season.
“I feel like it put a little pressure on me; I’m not going to lie,” Vassos says. “I wish I could say I thought, ‘No, I’m going my own way.’ But part of me thought, ‘I have to be the redemption.’ And if this season doesn’t go the way everyone wants it to, that could be the end of the ‘Golden’ franchise.”
She relaxed as she met the new group of 24 diverse men, including Mark Anderson, the handsome father of former Bachelor actress Kelsey Anderson.
“Yes, I felt pressure, but when I met the guys, I thought, ‘It’s going to be OK,'” says Vassos, who keeps her already-recorded ending top secret. “I’m dying to tell you because the journey has been so incredible. People are going to love the show and the guys.”
But she does offer one clue: Vassos, who describes herself as being more “serious,” needs an outgoing man like her late husband, John Vassos. He lit up every room before he died after a two-year battle with pancreatic cancer.
Vassos admits she struggled with guilt about appearing on a TV dating show after losing her beloved husband. “I was a little afraid I wouldn’t be honoring his memory,” she says. “And I know people will say, ‘If you were so in love, how on earth could you be on that show?'”
But she says the experience healed her emotionally. She talked to other widows in the Golden Bachelor house about the loss, which was “the group therapy I needed. And when I got out, I felt good afterward.”
She has dismissed the idea that “Golden Bachelorette” would disrespect John’s memory in any way, since he was, after all, the couple’s biggest reality show fan and watched “Real Housewives” and “The Bachelor.”
“When I told a friend I felt guilty, she was like, ‘Oh, that’s so stupid!'” Vassos says. “She said John will look down from heaven and say, ‘That’s my wife down there.’ He’ll celebrate it and love it, I still believe that. I feel like he’s with me, honestly.”
