Summary

• The Golden Bachelorette lead is Joan Vassos, a 61-year-old mother and grandmother.
• Joan has more than one job, and has many hobbies and interests.
• Through The Golden Bachelorette, Joan hopes to redefine what it means to be an older woman in today's society.

The Golden Bachelorette has finally announced its first-ever lead, Joan Vassos, and there's a lot to know about this lovely and lively woman. Joan, who's from Rockville, Maryland, got her start on Gerry Turner's Golden Bachelor season. They shared a very deep connection, and they seemed to be headed in the right direction. However, after Joan and Gerry's romantic dinner date, she received a call from her daughter who said that she needed her at home right away. Joan left the show, leaving Gerry devastated.

Joan later revealed on The Golden Bachelor "Women Tell All" episode, that her daughter had a "really serious case of postpartum depression." She also confessed that she thought that she and Gerry had a good chance of ending up together, and she held out hope for a little while that maybe she'd come home from work, and he'd be sitting on her front porch. That, of course, didn't happen, and now Joan is ready to continue to find love on her own season of The Golden Bachelorette. As Joan prepares for her journey, here's what to know about her.

1 Joan Vassos Is 61 Years Old

Joan Is Over A Decade Younger Than The Golden Bachelor's Gerry Turner

Joan was born on January 11, 1963, which means that she's 61 years old. She's eleven years younger than leading man Gerry was when he filmed The Golden Bachelor, as he turned 72 during the show. All of Gerry's contestants were over the age of 60, so it'll be interesting to see if Joan's contestants are a bit younger, considering that she's a decade younger than he was. Of course, they'll still have to be considered "golden."

Joan's astrological sign is Capricorn. Capricorns are known for being ambitious, hardworking, loyal, honest, and in touch with their emotions. Joan has all of these qualities. Capricorn best matches with fellow Earth signs Taurus and Virgo, or water signs including Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces. It'll be exciting to see which men attract The Golden Bachelorette.

2 Joan Vassos Was Married For 32 Years

Joan Is A Widow

Joan was married to her husband, John Vassos, for 32 years before he tragically ed away due to pancreatic cancer on January 18, 2021. In a January 2024 Instagram post, Joan paid tribute to John on the third anniversary of his ing, sharing a photograph of them and their four children. She wrote, "It's been three years... Some days it seems like it just happened and I can't catch my breath, still feeling the shock of it. Other days it feels like he's been gone a lifetime, those days are worse because I'm afraid the memories are fading. I think that's what scares me the most."

Joan went on to say that, for years, she's tried to think of how to memorialize John, but "nothing seems quite right. Plant a tree, put his name on the back of a bench...nope, I'd have to name the tallest building in the world to do him justice. Every floor would stand for something kind he did for someone, the good deeds are too many to even attempt to mention." Joan continued, "He was the husband that always made me feel safe and cherished. He was the parent that was always the fun one because that's all he knew how to do...lucky kids because fun in his book was generally epic."

Joan concluded her beautiful tribute post to John by writing, "As the Greeks say, 'May his memory be eternal.'" On The Golden Bachelor, Joan had told Gerry that she tried dating about a year and a half after John ed away, but she felt that it was "a little too soon." They bonded about this because Gerry is a widower. Joan and John shared a beautiful love story, and she's now ready for a second chance at finding love.

3 Joan Vassos Is A Mother & Grandmother

Joan Has Four Children & Three Grandchildren

Bachelor Nation already knew that Joan has a daughter and a grandchild, but her family is actually quite larger than that. According to People, Joan has four adult children. They include Nicholas, a senior manager of business sys at an insurance company; Erica, an educator; Allison, owner of Ittybitty Boutiques; and Luke, a corporate executive for a software company. Joan also has three grandchildren--two grandsons and a granddaughter--who call her Jojo, according to her October 2023 Instagram story.

Joan is completely devoted to her family, as evidenced by her leaving The Golden Bachelor to be by her daughter's side in her time of need. She is a selfless mother and grandmother, who would do anything for her family. Similarly, Joan's children are ive of their mom's journey. In an interview with CNN, Joan shared, "My first and third children are very into this. They think it’s really fun and like, what a cool experience for mom. My daughter Erica and my son Luke are a little, like a little cringey. Like, 'Don’t kiss a guy on TV. This is gonna be really embarrassing. My friends are watching.' But overall, all of them want me to find love."

4 Joan's Mother Is 91 Years Old

Perhaps Joan's Mother Will Appear On The Show

In an October 2023 Instagram post, Joan revealed that her mother is 91 years old. The video was about how she was cooking chicken noodle soup for her mom, who wasn't feeling so good. Her mom once told her that she'd made the best chicken noodle soup that she'd ever had, so Joan wanted to make it again for her.

During The Golden Bachelor, Gerry's 92-year-old father, Everett, was never seen on the show. Everett was unable to travel to attend the Golden Wedding due to health reasons. Gerry also later mentioned that his father was part of the reason that he didn't want to move away from Indiana. Although Everett didn't make any Golden Bachelor appearances, it would be nice to see Joan's mother on The Golden Bachelorette. It would be interesting to hear someone from her generation's opinion about the show.

5 Joan Vassos Has More Than One Job

Joan Is Multi-Talented

Although she was introduced on The Golden Bachelor as a private school , Joan has more than one job. According to Joan's LinkedIn page, she has been working in Alumni Relations and Annual Giving with a school in Bethesda, Maryland since September 2021. She has also been self-employed as an interior designer for Metropolitan Interiors, LLC since February 2021. In addition, she's worked part-time as a special projects consultant for The Association of Independent Schools of Greater Washington since March 2015.

Joan graduated from the University of Maryland in 1985, with a bachelor's degree in computer science. She's obviously an intelligent and multi-talented woman who enjoys sharing her gifts in order to help others. Joan is a truly amazing woman. She's achieved so much in her life and is a shining role model for women of all ages.

6 Joan Vassos Is A Member Of The Women's Board Of The American Heart Association

Joan Works Hard For This Worthy Cause

Joan is a proud member of the Women's Board of the American Heart Association. In a February 2024 Instagram post, Joan shared a video montage of photographs from the 78th annual "An Affair of the Heart Luncheon and Fashion Show." Joan wore a red dress, which is the official color of the American Heart Association. The video included the message, "As a member of the Women's Board of the American Heart Association, I'm proud to announce that we raised over $500,000 today to be donated to heart research. What a great event!"

The caption of Joan's post read, "It’s Heart Awareness Month and we ed the cause at the 78th annual 'An Affair of the Heart Luncheon and Fashion Show.' Our board had raised over $10M to heart research!" It's inspiring to see that Joan is using her platform after The Golden Bachelor to raise awareness for heart health, which is so important. She can reach so many people through her social media s, which can help raise awareness and funds. Through her work for this cause, Joan has proven once again what a thoughtful and selfless person she really is. As the Golden Bachelorette, Joan's not only stealing hearts, but helping to keep them healthy!

7 Joan Vassos Is Active On Social Media

Joan Posts Regularly On Instagram & TikTok

Joan can be found on instagram at @JOAN_VASSOS and on TikTok at @joanvassos. She's been very active on Instagram since her Golden Bachelor debut, and has a few posts dedicated to her family from before she was on the show. Joan posts about her family, fashion, and cooking. Her love for her family is so evident in every post about them. Joan also has many posts which detail her get-togethers with her Golden Bachelor co-stars. On TikTok, Joan shares all sorts of videos, including recipes, humorous antics, and family events. Joan's funny and kind personality really shines through in her posts, and fans can get to know her better through her social media s.

On Instagram, the reveal video for The Golden Bachelorette, in which she appears in a gold gown. Natasha Bedingfield's song, "Unwritten," plays in the background. In the caption she wrote, "The first Golden Bachelorette… I truly can’t believe it! I’m positively overwhelmed by the love and you are all sending my way. Thank you @abc for picking me and @bachelornation for rooting for me! As I embark on this journey, I hope to make you all proud, follow my heart, and have a lot of fun along the way. I’m honored to represent all of the golden ladies out there, turns out we aren’t invisible after all."

8 Joan Vassos Has Many Hobbies & Interests

Joan Loves Spending Time With Her Family

Joan is a very intriguing woman who has a lot of hobbies and interests. According to Joan's ABC bio, Joan enjoys music and dancing. She loves listening to Elton John and likes dancing after a couple of glasses of wine. Joan also enjoys hanging out with her dog. She's a fan of cooking and going to historical museums. Joan is very interesting, and her varied hobbies show the many different aspects of her personality.

In addition to these hobbies, when she's at the beach with her family. In an October 2023 Instagram post, Joan shared a video montage from a family visit to Butler's Orchard, set to Dylan's Scott's "Good Times Go By Too Fast." She captioned the post, "Enjoying one last beautiful day with my grandkids at the orchard!" The montage included photographs and videos of Joan enjoying the day with her grandchildren, who are clearly the light of her life.

9 Joan Loves To Cook

Joan Posts Cooking Demonstration Videos On Social Media

According Joan's ABC bio, Joan loves cooking a delicious meal. Her favorite food is "a big, juicy burger." Joan shared her first-ever cooking demonstration video on Instagram, but has shared many more on TikTok. On TikTok, Joan shares videos of herself cooking various foods including chili, crockpot chocolate lava cake, hoagie dip, pineapple stuffing, Sloppy Joes, crockpot lasagna, cranberry pistachio biscotti, cheesesteak pull-apart bread, crab dip and Christmas cookies with her grandson. In one video, Joan cooked her mother-in-law's recipe for Greek avgolemono soup with her mother-in-law.

On TikTok, Joan not only shares her recipes, but also the stories behind them, which helps people to learn more about her life. She even injects a bit of humor into the videos as well. In one Tik Tok video, during The Golden Bachelorette!

10 Joan Vassos Wants To Redefine What It Means To Be 60 & Older

Joan Wants To Represent Her Generation

Joan is breaking new ground on The Golden Bachelorette as an older woman looking for love. In her interview with CNN, Joan stated that there are cultures in the world that revere older people because of their knowledge and life experience, but she doesn't think that's "super true in our society." She explained that The Golden Bachelor showed that people in her generation are still young, saying, "we’re not old. We don’t have canes. Some people on the show had hearing aids, but nobody could even see they had them. Growing old now is very different."

Joan went on to say, "We were all very fit, we exercised, we shared great stories about raising our kids and we learned so much from each other. There’s a lot of knowledge that we have inside of us because we’ve lived life." She continued, "In our culture, I feel like growing old is not a dignified thing. You’re just supposed to kind of fade in the back, take a backseat to the next generation. I’m hoping that we change that a little bit. We’re still fun and energetic and we know how to use our phones."

Joan's description of her fellow Golden Bachelor contestants is perfect. They all proved that women over 60 are vibrant and living their lives to the fullest. Joan is the ideal representative for her generation, and she's about to change people's perspectives about older women even more The Golden Bachelorette.

Joan is an incredible woman who'll represent her generation and all women wonderfully. Joan is beautiful both inside and out, and she's an incredible role model. Hopefully, she'll find the love that she's searching for during her season. Joan was the perfect choice for the first-ever lead of The Golden Bachelorette.

The Golden Bachelorette premieres in fall 2024 on ABC.

Sources: Joan Vassos/Instagram, Bachelor Nation/YouTube, People, Joan Vassos/Instagram, CNN, Joan Vassos/Instagram, Joan Vassos/LinkedIn, Joan Vassos/Instagram, Joan Vassos/TikTok, Joan Vassos/Instagram, Joan Vassos/Instagram, Joan Vassos/TikTok, Joan Vassos/Instagram