The Golden Bachelorette featured Joan Vassos eliminating Mark Anderson and choosing Charles "Chock" Chapple, Guy Gansert, Jordan Heller, and Pascal Ibgui as her Final 4 bachelors during the episode that aired Wednesday night on ABC.
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"This has been an incredible journey. I came hoping for love. I came hoping to open and heal," Mark said in his final words.
"It's been an incredible adventure. It's been humbling. Unfortunately, you know, I wasn't what Joan was looking for. I had hoped for a future with Joan, she's a fantastic woman."
He added, "So much of what I look for in a person was in her. There is still love in the world, and I will find my one day."
Joan then eliminated Keith Gordon, a 62-year-old girl dad from San Jose, CA -- who had received Joan's First Impression Rose -- and Jonathan Rone, a 61-year-old shipping consultant from Oakland, IA, at the Rose Ceremony.
Joan's Final 4 bachelors as a result are Chock, a 60-year-old insurance executive from Wichita, KS; Guy, a 66-year-old ER doctor from Reno, NV; Jordan, a 61-year-old sales manager from Chicago, IL; and Pascal, a 69-year-old salon owner from Paris, France, who has lived in Chicago, IL.
The Golden Bachelorette broadcast began with Joan receiving some advice from Season 1 The Bachelorette star Trista Rehn.
This was a big week for Joan because she was going to select her Final 4 men, who would then receive hometown dates. There would be no roses up for grabs until the Rose Ceremony, however, so that took a little bit of the pressure off Joan.
The men were also starting to fall for Joan, especially Chock, who confessed that it was getting hard for him to see the woman he cared about dating other men.
Trista admitted to Joan that her biggest regret from filming The Bachelorette was not professing her love to winner Ryan Sutter sooner, because it essentially left him hanging, and so Joan realized she needed to be more vulnerable with her guys and let her walls down.
Joan then invited Keith on a one-on-one date, and the pair took a helicopter ride to a beautiful vineyard, where they sipped on wine and engaged in conversation.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOWJoan explained how Keith was the "life of the party" and "super fun" but she was waiting to see more depth from the bachelor.
Joan explained how she had felt a comfort and safety with Keith on Night 1 and that feeling never disappeared. Joan acknowledged it was "easy" with Keith but she wanted to see him become more confident and open up and talk about love.
Keith did, in fact, share more about how his ex-wife and how she had battled addiction. Keith took care of his three daughters when his ex-wife couldn't, and he explained how he hadn't spoken to his ex in 12 years.
Joan praised Keith for being such a good father, and she recognized how he must have had a hard life raising three girls all by himself.
"The thoughts of doing a hometown [with Keith] are kind of creeping up in my mind now. Keith finds a lot of joy in life, and he looks at the glass not half full, but completely full... He does [have depth]," Joan told the cameras.
And Keith gushed about how Joan made him feel content and their relationship was easy.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)
For the week's group date, Pascal, Jonathan, Chock and Guy went bowling with Joan, and the game turned pretty competitive fairly quickly.
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"Do the polite thing and give everybody the opportunity. Don't take all of her time while we're playing the game," Guy vented in a confessional.
But Chock explained to the cameras how he was just worried about Joan and himself.
"I'm crazy about her and I want to be with her every moment. I don't care what they're thinking or doing," Chock noted of his competition, before he told Joan that he saw them together and they could have a beautiful future.
Chock felt pretty confident that Joan was going to meet his family in Kansas.
Also during the group date, Jonathan showed Joan some pictures of his family and a few pictures of him from his younger years, and Joan called him "a pretty incredible human being."
All of the men wanted to bring Joan home to meet their kids, and Guy shared with The Golden Bachelorette star how he hadn't been so happy in years and it was all because of her.
"For the first time since my ex-wife, I think I could be falling in love. It's very heartwarming for me," Guy gushed in a confessional.
The next day, Joan embarked on a one-on-one date with Mark, who had been anticipating this "huge" day. Mark said he really wanted Joan to see his daughter Kelsey Anderson again and meet his other kids.
Mark gushed about how Joan was a beautiful person inside and out, and he felt connected to her because they had both lost their spouses to cancer.
Mark had lost his wife, Denise, to breast cancer just over six years ago, and he finally felt ready to find love again. Mark even saw a hummingbird outside of The Golden Bachelorette mansion, which he believed was a sign from his late wife that he belonged on the show and was doing the right thing.
Joan picked up Mark in a convertible and the pair went sailing on a yacht.
It was an uber-romantic date, but there appeared to be a lot of awkward silences for the couple.
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"Mark is very quiet and soft-spoken. We're almost formal with each other," Joan explained to The Golden Bachelorette cameras.
"So today, I need to see Mark open up, and I need to see if there is easy rapport -- if there is easy flow. I can't waste a hometown on somebody I don't see a future with."
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The Golden Bachelorette host Jesse Palmer helped smooth things along by giving Joan and Mark a list of tasks. The couple played "Never Have I Ever," for example, and did a little fishing off the boat.
The game helped to loosen Mark up and be honest with Joan, and it definitely advanced their relationship in the chemistry department.
"Sometimes I'm a little slow getting started, so this is exactly what I was hoping for," Mark shared.
Joan and Mark then spoke about their late spouses, John Vassos and Denise, respectively, and Mark explained the significance of the hummingbird and how he appreciated talking to Joan about their broken hearts.
Joan and Mark ended up having a wonderful date, but Joan felt something was still "missing" with Mark.
Right after Mark was shown telling the other guys how he had a "fantastic" date with Joan and was really hoping to receive a rose so he could show Joan around New Orleans, Joan showed up at The Golden Bachelorette mansion and pulled Mark aside for a chat.
Joan explained to Mark how their relationship had grown a lot and she loved to hear how this journey was healing for him, but there was something missing between them.
"I felt like we bonded in such an important way... and you're such an amazing man. All of these things made me want us to be really good, but I went home last night, and I kept thinking... 'Something doesn't feel right.' I couldn't sleep the whole night," Joan explained.
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"I didn't feel like I imagined an 'us,'" Joan admitted.
"I think I came into [the picture] a little too early for you. And I didn't want to go into a Rose Ceremony when hometowns are at stake and not have a conversation with you first. I need someone who is as far along in their journey as I am."
Mark got a little teary-eyed, but he assured Joan that he was "okay" and he wanted her to find the man who's right for her during this journey.
Mark shared how The Golden Bachelorette journey had "changed" him for the better and he was going to leave the show a better human being, a better man, and a better father.
Joan complimented Mark for being such a wonderful man, and then they hugged goodbye.
"Thank you so much," Mark whispered in Joan's ear.
Joan told Mark that he'd always have a piece of her heart, and Mark apparently felt the same way because she's such a "wonderful" woman.
Mark then said goodbye to his new friends, and the majority of bachelors were in tears about Mark's departure.
The bachelors wished Mark well and were shocked by his ouster.
"We had a connection. It was intimate and it was real. It just feels like we're not in the same place yet, and it breaks my heart," Joan explained to the cameras.
At the Rose Ceremony, Joan handed out roses to Pascal, Chock, Guy and Jordan.
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"This has opened up my eyes to a second chance at love, and I'm excited about what's next for me," Keith said in his final words.
Joan walked Jonathan out, and she confessed that she felt "really bad" about hurting these guys and having to say goodbye. Jonathan had opened up a lot to Joan, and she called him a very special human being.
Joan told Jonathan that he had made such an imprint on her heart, and she thanked him for being so vulnerable with her.
"You not only made me feel visible and seen, but you validated a lot of the values I tried to be as a man and as a father. You saw that in me, and I can't ask for anything more than that. I am so grateful," Jonathan told Joan.
Joan and Jonathan hugged each other goodbye, and Jonathan admitted he was "devastated" once inside the limo. Jonathan had been hoping Joan would want to meet his family and kids.
"But I wish the best for her," Jonathan said of Joan. "I came out here because I believed in [getting] a second chance at love, and she did heal my heart. Although this is the end of my journey [with] Joan, maybe my journey is just beginning!"
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
