Joan Vassos is opening up her heart again to love as ABC’s first-ever Golden Bachelorette. On September 18, Joan will start her journey to find love on The Golden Bachelorette. In a new preview video, Joan’s family asked about her must-haves in a man, and she revealed a major relationship dealbreaker.
“I’m very picky about a man being a gentleman,” she told her family. Joan added that she’s looking for “somebody with a big heart, somebody who is generous, and also somebody who’s humble.”
Joan’s daughter, Ally, questioned her about kissing a multitude of guys, and the 61-year-old admitted that she was “going to have to get used to that because you don’t want to be with somebody you don’t want to kiss, so you have to try it out. I’m going to probably kiss a fair amount of guys on camera.”
While sitting at the head of the table, Joan stressed to her family, “I’m not here to replace dad. I just want our family to be whole again.”
Joan was married for 32 years to her late husband, John, and they had four children. John died in 2021 at age 59 due to complications from pancreatic cancer. Two years after his death, Joan decided to look for love again on The Golden Bachelor. She had to exit early due to a family emergency, but Joan got the opportunity of a lifetime to become the first Golden Bachelorette.
“I feel like he maybe had a little hand in me actually getting here, honestly,” Joan told ET. “He told me right before he passed away, ‘You need to go out and find somebody else. You were the best wife in the world, and I want you to be happy.’ He gave me this wonderful gift before he died, and he said go and do something, and so here I am.”
The Golden Bachelorette, Series Premiere, Wednesday, September 18, 8/7c, ABC