If you’re wondering what to expect during her season, these exclusive quotes might shed some light.
After months of speculation, the news is out: Joan Vassos will be America’s first Golden Bachelorette. Vassos, a 61-year-old school administrator from Maryland, appeared on The Golden Bachelor last year. She made waves when she decided to self-eliminate despite her strong connection with Gerry Turner because her daughter had recently given birth and needed her help.
Vassos’ departure from the show was simultaneously heartbreaking and heartwarming — and now, she has another shot at a picture-perfect happy ending.
If you’re anxious to watch Vassos embark upon her journey in search of true love, then we have some tidbits to tide you over until the season begins. As the first season of Golden Bachelor came to a close this past fall, Vassos offered some key insights to Katie Couric Media about her perspective on dating, her relationship with her first husband, and how The Golden Bachelor changed her life. If you’re wondering what to expect during her season, these quotes might shed some light.
Joan Vassos on dating later in life:
“I learned two important things about dating at this age. First, we are expected to be strong and in control as the matriarchs of our families, and that doesn’t work in the dating world. You have to allow that part of you that’s been cooped up for so long to come out — be vulnerable and open to letting someone in that makes you feel like you’re the one who’s cared for.
“Second, you don’t have to navigate the somewhat uncomfortable dating at this stage of life alone. Find your tribe: those women who have found themselves single in their 60s and 70s. None of us thought we’d be in this place, and it’s lonely in this world of couples. It’s way more fun when you go on this journey with new friends. I learned that at the Bachelor mansion and I’ll never go it alone again!”
On her first marriage:
“I had a wonderful life with my late husband, and I loved being married. I wanted to experience that feeling again but finding a match later in life seemed impossible to do organically. We live in a world of couples and the chance of meeting someone while going about your normal day is very unlikely…believe me, I tried.
“My mantra is that if you want something, you need to make an effort to affect that outcome, so I pushed myself to date. And I did it in a big way by going on The Golden Bachelor. Oddly, I felt that it would be easier for me to do it with these other women as support and I didn’t think of them as my competition. I thought of them as my friends and that’s what gave me the confidence I needed to date again.”
On life after The Golden Bachelor (and before Golden Bachelorette):
“I’ve had many, many people reach out asking to meet — or to marry them, which is hilarious — and quite a few women who have widowed fathers that they’d like to set me up with. I’m being very cautious, though, because I feel vulnerable, both safety-wise and emotionally. To be honest, I still don’t have it figured out, but what I do know is that I went on The Golden Bachelor looking for love and I left with an even more intense feeling of needing it. I felt that glimpse of hope that I hadn’t felt since my husband’s passing. But I’m open to any dating advice!”
