ABC Sets Premiere Date for Joan Vassos’ ‘Golden Bachelorette’ Season
The Golden Bachelorette is ready to step into the spotlight. ABC has announced a premiere date for the first season of The Golden Bachelorette, which will follow new leading lady Joan Vassos as she searches for love.
‘The Golden Bachelorette’ premieres Sept. 18
Vassos’ season of The Golden Bachelorette premieres Wednesday, Sept. 18 at 8 p.m. ET. Episodes will stream the next day on Hulu.
In May, ABC announced Vassos, a contestant on Gerry Turner’s inaugural season of The Golden Bachelor, as the first-ever Golden Bachelorette. Although Vassos had a spark with Turner during their one-on-one date, she opted to leave the show in week three because of a medical issue involving her daughter, who had recently given birth.
”It wasn’t a normal, everyday delivery at all. Things go wrong. Even if everything went right, you need your mom,” Vassos explained at the time. “My family will always be first. Once you become a mom, you’re always a mom, even when your kids are older. Nothing is more important.”
While Joan’s Golden Bachelor journey ended prematurely, she hasn’t given up on the idea of finding love later in life, leading to her decision to return as the Golden Bachelorette.
Who is Joan Vassos?
Vassos is a 61-year-old school administrator from Rockville, Maryland. She’s a widow, having lost her beloved husband after 32 years of marriage to pancreatic cancer in 2021. Vassos is also a mom of four and grandmother to three, and family is all-important to her. She enjoys the music of Elton John, cooking, and spending time with her dog.
Turner is confident that Vassos will have an amazing time as The Golden Bachelorette.
“Congratulations on being named the first-ever Golden Bachelorette,” Turner wrote in an Instagram post. “You will be phenomenal as the new representative of a generation. From one Golden to another … relax, breathe, and enjoy.”
Turner’s own Golden Bachelor season culminated with his televised wedding to Theresa Nist. But their whirlwind romance was short-lived. In April, the couple announced they were divorcing after just three months of marriage.
One reason for Gerry and Theresa’s split? The couple, who lived in different states, had trouble figuring out how to merge their lives once married. Vassos has already said that she has no intention of moving away from her family.
“I think you almost have to live a dual life,” she told CNN. “I’ll never leave my family. They are the most important people in the world to me obviously, and I would expect that to be the same for the person that I end up with because family is so important to me, that would have to be a key part of their personality.”
“You have to be willing to … travel and be with that person and maybe spend a couple of months or a couple of weeks at a time … and then maybe eventually, you figure out a destination that would work for you and your families or have another house where everybody gets together,” she said.
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