The Golden Bachelorette Joan Vassos has officially started handing out roses – but is the last rose she receives the next great love of her life?
We weekly spoke to the 61-year-old leading lady ahead of the premiere of ABC’s Senior spinoff on Wednesday, September 18. When asked if she could confidently say she found love on the show – in the supertease, Joan says, “I’ve only been in love with one person before, now I’ve been in love with more than one” – she admitted it was a “tough question.”
“The journey ended exactly as it should. I feel like I have found a lot of love, and there are all kinds of love,” said Joan Us“I feel like each of these men will be a part of my life forever. We’ve shared really, really intimate things about our lives and we’re connected. I think I’ve actually found a lot of love this season.”
Joan was married to her late husband John For 32 years, before he died in 2021 at the age of 59.
“I recorded the whole season and took a little break, but now there is a lot of hype, so I’m glad it’s finally here. I’m excited for it to not just be about me, but also about the journey and the men,” said Joan Us“We date for a million other people (and) to show them that it can still be fun in your 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s or whatever. Dating can be fun and the search for love is worth the journey.”
During the premiere on Wednesday she gave KeithFather of a 62-year-old girl, the first impression rose.
“I could have given out 10 (roses for first impressions). I’m not lying. I’m not exaggerating,” she said, before gushing about Keith. “I had this feeling of comfort and security. He’s like this big teddy bear that I immediately connected with and felt really comfortable with. It was much more about the feeling I had with Keith.”
Joan added: “You go in there not knowing if you’re going to connect with anyone. And there were several guys that I felt like when they got out of the limo and I chatted with them for a minute and (as) they walked away, I thought, ‘OK, this could work, I feel good.'”
While Golden Bachelor Gerry Turner proposed in the first senior season last year (he and Theresa Nist Although they separated in April after three months of marriage, Joan’s end goal wasn’t necessarily a ring from Neil Lane.
“I’ve said all along that I don’t have to go engaged,” she said Peopleand noted that she hoped to leave the show “in a committed relationship.”
Joan explained: “I wanted to have someone I could imagine a future with and we wanted to see how it worked in the real world outside of The Bachelor bubble. I didn’t want to go through all that and be in the same place I was when I came into the villa.”
For more information about Joan, watch the video above. The Golden Bachelorette airs Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET on ABC.
