The only people more excited than Joan Vassos about The Golden Bachelorette season 1 finale are her children.
“I think they’re ready for it,” Joan, 61, exclusively told Us Weekly of her family at the show’s Men Tell All episode taping in October. “They’re looking forward to it. It’s a lot, being the kid that has a parent on TV. I feel for kids who do it, this is their life.”
Joan told Us that her family was “always a little worried” she would get her heart broken on the ABC reality dating series’ debut season. “They also were worried that I was going to embarrass them,” she joked. “So, I think they’re kind of ready to not have to have that worry every day.”
Joan shares her four kids — Nicholas, Erica, Allison and Luke — with her late husband, John Vassos, who died at age 59 in 2021 following a battle with pancreatic cancer.
Joan Vassos’ Family Guide: Meet the Golden Bachelorette’s Kids and More
“When they watch a show, one of my daughters critiques it every week and tells me how many men I kissed,” Joan said. “[She] calls me in the morning, tells me how many I kissed, and how much she embarrassed me and how much I embarrassed her. So, I think that they’re ready to maybe have their life back to normal a little bit.”
Bachelor Nation fans met Joan on season 1 of The Golden Bachelor last year. Despite sparking a connection with leading man Gerry Turner, she left the competition early to help one of her daughters who had recently given birth. Joan was announced as The Golden Bachelorette’s first-ever lead back in May.
Since the show’s September premiere, fans have watched Joan form romantic connections with several of her contestants before narrowing down her final three to Chock Chapple, Pascal Ibgui and Guy Gansert.
Pascal, 69, surprised Joan during the series’ October 30 episode by self-eliminating ahead of their evening in the fantasy suite, confessing that he couldn’t see himself being ready for an engagement.
Golden Bachelorette Joan Felt ‘Guilty’ Dating on Show After Husband’s Death
“I had 24 people here in the beginning and I’m down to the last three, and I might leave with nobody. It could happen,” Joan tearfully said in a confessional. “I was afraid coming into this, and then, my fears started getting better. And now, I’m afraid again.”
Throughout the season, fans have watched Joan struggle with finding new love while continuing to honor John’s memory. “I think when I came onto the show, I thought that I was really ready and I felt really confident and that I knew what I was doing and I found out that was completely wrong,” she told Us at the Men Tell All. “I wasn’t completely ready, and I didn’t realize that. And I don’t think I could have realized that if I hadn’t come on the show because I needed to start having feelings for somebody. And that had not happened yet.”
Noting that she’s “still in love with John,” she added: “It took me a long time to get through the thought that I could still be in love with John and still have another person that there’s room in my heart for that. So, I think that’s the biggest thing I learned about myself, that your heart is bigger than you realize.”
The Golden Bachelorette finale airs on ABC Wednesday, November 13, at 8 p.m. ET.
With reporting by Mariel Turner
