ABC‘s The Golden Bachelorette premiered on September 18th, and features 61-year-old Joan Vassos as she searches for love in her golden years. However, some may not realize that Vassos was previously on The Golden Bachelor, and left the show after only three episodes. What happened, and why did she leave?
School Administrator Joan Vassos was first introduced to audiences last year, during the very first season of The Golden Bachelor. Vassos became an early favorite after forming an obvious connection with leading man, Gerry Turner, over a dinner date. Both Turner and Vassos left the date floating, with both of them excited about the idea of seeing each other again.
During their dinner together, Vassos revealed that her daughter had just given birth 15 days earlier. The morning after her date, she had a tearful conversation with her daughter, who was having issues following her C-section. This led to Vassos making the tearful decision to depart from the show in favor of going back to Maryland to “be a mom.”
Vassos explained the situation to Turner in an emotional conversation that was seen on the show, thanking him for giving her the first romantic connection she felt since the passing of her husband. Turner tearfully expressed his disappointment, but ultimately accepted her decision to leave. “Sometimes the right thing to do is the hardest,” he said, as they said their goodbyes.
Following her departure from The Golden Bachelor, Vassos provided an update via an Instagram story. She thanked everyone for their expressions of concern before assuring readers that things were well with her family. “Once a mom, always a mom and sometimes the timing doesn’t work out with finding love,” she said. Vassos ended her post with a hope of getting “the chance at love again. Here’s to second chances!
The Golden Bachelorette airs Wednesdays at 8pm ET on ABC with next-day streaming on Hulu.