'The Golden Bachelorette': Joan Vassos readies her roses as her

Since The Bachelor premiered in 2002 followed by The Bachelorette in 2003, the franchise has established itself as a cornerstone of reality television. For more than two decades, fans of the franchise have kept weekly viewing appointments for their favorite Bachelor Nation shows. But the franchise was hardly age inclusive until The Golden Bachelor debuted in September 2023.

The series’ runaway success showed there was an audience for people looking for love later in life. The Golden Bachelorette was a natural fit to follow.

With Joan Vassos as the first Golden Bachelorette, the show looks to convey that age is but a number and a second chance at romance is always possible. And if it’s anything like its Golden predecessor, it’s sure to be a hit.

“I want the world to know that since I’m on the show, it’s not really just about me finding a boyfriend,” Vassos, a Maryland private school administrator, mother of four and grandmother of three, said in a promotion for the season. “It’s really about everybody my age that doesn’t have somebody special in their life [knowing] that it’s not too late.”

Here’s what to know ahead of The Golden Bachelorette premiere:

Table of Contents

When does the season premiere?

Where did we first meet Joan Vassos?

Vassos competed on the inaugural season of The Golden Bachelor and quickly became a frontrunner for Gerry Turner’s affections. Following a romantic one-on-one date with the season lead, the 61-year-old Olney, Md. native self-eliminated during the third week of the show to be with her daughter, who had recently given birth and was struggling with postpartum depression.
Vassos told The Wrap that she considered returning to the Bachelor mansion “four or five days” after her initial departure. She ultimately did not return due to her daughter’s worsening condition.
“I went [on The Golden Bachelor] because I had been widowed for two years at the time,” Vassos said in a promotion for her upcoming season. “There was a part of me that felt like maybe I was selfish looking for a second love at this age. But after being on The Golden Bachelor, I saw all these wonderful women that I loved and respected, and they didn’t feel embarrassed about it.”

Who are Vassos’s suitors?

On Aug. 13, ABC gave viewers a first look at the 24 men vying for Vassos’s final rose on the first season of The Golden Bachelorette. Ranging in age from 57 to 69, the contestants include a chiropractor, contractor, rancher and ER doctor.
Among her suitors is Mark Anderson, a 57-year-old Army veteran from Leesville, La. Bachelor Nation knows Anderson as the father of Kelsey Anderson, the final rose recipient and fiancée of Season 28 Bachelor Joey Graziadei.
Vassos told Decider that while she was initially hesitant about the men getting along, she learned that they connected on a deeper level: “They talked about dating and they talked about their families. They talked about being single fathers and about being girl dads. And they were so vulnerable and so incredibly supportive of each other, like they had known each other for their whole lives.”

What can we expect from Vassos’s season?

Vassos told Extra that she set her own ground rules when it came time for the overnight dates (also known as the Fantasy Suites). “I didn’t want to have a physical relationship with more than one person, so I kind of took that off the table. [We] did Fantasy Suites but it was all about like an emotional connection and learning things about each other off-camera, but I didn’t do the physical thing,” she said, adding, “You don’t have to sleep with the person!”
Vassos told People that an engagement wasn’t her ultimate goal. “My goal was to leave in a committed relationship. I wanted to have somebody I saw a future with and that we wanted to see how it works in the real world outside of the Bachelor bubble. I didn’t want to go through all of this and be at the same place I was when I came to the mansion,” she explained.
Vassos has made it clear that she has no intention of relocating for love. “I would never want to leave my family,” she told People.
“I’m very picky about a man being a gentleman,” Vassos said in another promotion for the show. “Somebody with a big heart. Somebody who is generous and also somebody who is humble.”

The Golden Bachelorette premieres Sept. 18 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC and streams the next day on Hulu.

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