The Golden Bachelorette: Joan Vassos is ABC's Pick to Lead the Hit Franchise's Inaugural Season

glamour.com:

The Golden Bachelorette was officially a go, fans have been waiting forever (well, more like three months) to find out who the lucky lady would be, and now we know: Joan Vassos, from Rockland, Maryland.Joan was a fan-favorite and front-runner , when she and Gerry had a heart-warming one-on-one date (like Gerry, Joan is also a widow).

It seemed like she and Gerry had what it took to go the distance, but the morning after their date, she made the important—and right—decision to leave the show to care for her daughter, who was struggling with postpartum depression.Gerry was understanding—and devastated.

But to make matters even more surprising, Joan told me at the Women Tell All taping in October 2023 that she was actually scheduled to return to the show, and even had a plane ticket. “[The show] asked me if I wanted to come back, to which I said, 'I'm dying to come back.

I have no closure,'" Vassos said.At the time, the mom of four and grandmother of two thought her daughter was in a much better place, so she had ABC schedule a flight to L.A. “I had my bags packed and I was going to leave the next morning, [but] the thought of me leaving was just too much [for my daughter], so I didn't get to go back.