Joan Vassos is not new to the reality TV dating scene, but she is front and center as The Golden Bachelorette. Formerly a suitor on The Golden Bachelor, Joan now gets to choose from a batch of admirers vying for her hand.
Joan was widowed in 2021 when her husband, John, passed away from cancer. Joan and John were married for 32 years and had four children together. John and his legacy loomed large over Joan on The Golden Bachelor and continues to do so on The Golden Bachelorette.
John, his life, his marriage, and his influence on those around him are all present in Joan’s every action. Here’s more about him and his relationship with The Golden Bachelorette.
The Golden Bachelorette’s Husband, John, Was A Successful Businessman
According to John Vassos’ obituary from 2021, he was a native of Washington D.C., and a graduate of Salisbury University in Salisbury, MD. John assumed management of BCE Corporation, an office equipment business his father started years earlier. Under John’s leadership, BCE Corporation grew to a multi-million dollar business.
In 2011, John sold BCE Corporation to Sharp Electronics. Five years later, Vassos founded a company called CapX Solutions. Another office equipment business, CapX Solutions expanded quickly and became a multi-dollar business, too.
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John’s success allowed him to help others, especially schools. His philanthropic activities included supporting scholarships at Washington Jesuit Academy as well as donating to organizations like the American Cancer Society. John reportedly donated more than two million dollars during his lifetime.
Before The Golden Bachelorette, Joan Vassos Lived With Her Husband And Family In Maryland
In August 2024, Joan Vassos told Katie Couric Media, “I had a wonderful life with my late husband, and I loved being married.” Joan and John Vassos were married for 32 years and lived in Montgomery County, MD. John was a dedicated family man, devoted to Joan and his four children, Nicholas, Erica, Luke, and Allison.
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While John built his businesses, Joan worked as a school administrator in Rockville, MD. Alongside his life as a husband and businessman, John enjoyed being a youth football coach:
“He loved seeing each player develop their skills while teaching them about the importance of sportsmanship and other life lessons. He embraced the players and their families and made sure every one of them knew how special they were to him. He made these organizations feel like families and not just sports teams.”
On the third anniversary of John’s death, Joan posted a tribute on Instagram about her husband expressing how he made her and their children feel:
“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’s devotion to her family was displayed during The Golden Bachelor when she exited early to help her daughter who had just given birth.
The Golden Bachelorette Believes Her Late Husband Helped Her Get To Where She Is Today
Joan Vassos takes comfort in what John said to her shortly before he died. 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.”
Joan also said John was a fan of reality TV and, “I think he’s up there going, ‘Look, that’s my wife down there. She’s doing this.'” Joan believes that all of this is why she was compelled to participate in reality TV in the first place.
But Joan’s path had not been without doubt and guilt. Joan has been open about the difficulty she feels when it comes to dating. She told E! News:
“I’ve never had a really good romantic connection with anybody after John’s passing, so when I started feeling connected to some of the men on the show, I all of a sudden started feeling guilty… like I wasn’t honoring his memory or that I had to let go of him in some way to allow somebody else into my heart.”
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For Joan, The Golden Bachelorette served as a form of grief therapy.
The mental health professionals with the show gave her advice that has stuck with her:
“They said, ‘You can have two balloons in your hand’… he said, ‘John could be this balloon, and the person that you’re having a connection with could be this balloon. And you don’t have to let go of this one to hold on to this one.'”
For Joan, this was incredibly comforting because he helped her realize that John “could always have a place in my heart and in my mind.”
Joan Vassos Is Embracing Her Journey And The Opportunities Associated With Being The Golden Bachelorette
Joan’s trepidation about dating factored into her connection with Gerry Turner, The Golden Bachelor. While Joan exited The Golden Bachelor early, she and Gerry remained friends. She credits Gerry with setting an example of how to be on a reality TV dating show and is grateful for the advice he gave her. Joan told ET,
“[Gerry] exemplified somebody who is very open and vulnerable. He said that’s what you need to be from day one, because you don’t have a lot of time.”
One more factor keeps Joan going and that’s how her story has resonated with fans. Her love for John, her search for love later in life, and her grief all reached viewers in ways Joan never expected. The Golden Bachelorette received messages from people who watched the show expressing gratitude for Joan’s statements about feeling “invisible as you get older.”
For more The Golden Bachelor coverage, visit our Reality TV Hub.
Following up on the success of The Golden Bachelor, The Golden Bachelorette is a new dating reality series created for ABC that sees an older woman looking for love out of a group of several eligible bachelors.
- Release Date
- September 18, 2024
- Main Genre
- Reality
- Cast
- Joan Vassos
- Seasons
- 1
- Network
- ABC
- Streaming Service(s)
- Hulu
- Showrunner
- Bennett Graebner
- Character(s)
- The Golden Bachelorette
