The Golden Bachelorette star Joan Vassos has revealed how her children feel about her appearing on another reality dating show after The Golden Bachelor.
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Joan quit Gerry Turner's season of The Golden Bachelor after just a week of filming -- and only three episodes on the air -- because she said her daughter, who just had a c-section and was struggling with postpartum depression, needed her help at home.
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ABC then selected Joan to star on the first-ever The Golden Bachelorette season, which will air on Wednesday nights at 8PM ET/PT on the network this fall.
Joan shared how she has two daughters who "love" The Bachelor and two sons during a recent appearance on "The Golden Hour" podcast.
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"So one of my sons and one of my daughters loved this idea," Joan told the podcast's co-hosts Kathy Swarts and Susan Noles.
"So my oldest son, No. 1, and No. 3, Nick and Alli, both love the idea of me dating. They think it's a really good idea."
Joan continued, "Alli is married and Nick is engaged. Nick has said to me on more than one occasion, 'I want you to have what we have. We have all found love in our life.' All four of my kids are in love and are in relationships."
Joan also admitted she's always been afraid "to be a burden" on her children when she's older.
"I don't want to grow old alone and [my kids] think they have to take care of me," Joan shared.
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"[Nick] said, 'First of all, mom, you'll never be a burden on us. We love being with you.' And my kids, I think they do. They come over here all the time, and I love being with them. They're my favorite people in the world."
Joan said her children have realized that her life would be "better" if she didn't have to rely on her kids for love, support and care.
"So I think all four of them want me to have love, and two of them are okay with me actually, like, doing something about it," Joan said.
However, one of Joan's daughters, the woman who had a high-risk pregnancy and unexpected c-section, initially wasn't thrilled with her mother leaving home to film Gerry Turner's season of The Golden Bachelor.
"She had a really hard time when she came home [from giving birth]. She had postpartum depression... It was very difficult," recalled the 61-year-old grandmother and school administrator from Rockland, MD.
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Given one of Kathy's children also had a baby shortly before filming commenced, Joan revealed, "Our daughters were kind of angry at us for leaving them, thinking we should've stayed home and we should've given up this incredible opportunity and stayed home with them, and we considered doing that! It was really, really hard making a decision."
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Joan added, "I struggled with it terribly. The birth was hard, and that's why I ended up having to leave [The Golden Bachelor]."
Since the death of her late husband after 32 years of marriage, Joan has only introduced her children to one or two guys she's dated. However, both of the meet and greets were casual, according to the bachelorette.
"Before, I wasn't really ready, so I think my kids knew that these were not long-term people. I invited them over for dinner or something," Joan recalled.
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"It wasn't like, 'Here's my family. I want you to meet so and so,' like, really serious. It was just, 'Oh, he's going to come over and watch the Super Bowl with us,' or something. So I introduced them, but it wasn't like, 'This is the guy. I want you to meet him, and he's going to be a part of your life too.'"
Now that Joan is going to star on The Golden Bachelorette, it's more than likely Joan's children will meet at least one suitor in the final days of filming.
And Joan insisted that her kids would definitely speak up if they thought she was dating a bad person.
"They would tell me," Joan shared.
"And I think I would listen... because they have my best interest in mind. But I think, in general, if they knew I liked someone, they would never say anything unless it was pretty major."
When ABC announced Joan as the Golden Bachelorette, the network said she'll bring "grace and charm" to viewers' television screens.
"She is a remarkable woman whose life has been defined by her resilience, zest for adventure and strong family values. It was those family values that led to her heartbreaking decision to leave The Golden Bachelor," ABC teased.
"Despite that and other challenges she's faced along the way... [Joan] remains an embodiment of strength and grace as a devoted mother of four, grandmother of two, and school administrator, while finding solace in the music of Elton John, spending time with her dog, and cooking."
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More than 43 million viewers tuned in to the premiere of The Golden Bachelor, and many fans quickly fell in love with Joan, a blonde beauty, in the first several episodes.
On The Golden Bachelor: The Women Tell All, Joan got emotional when watching her journey back on the show, and she told host Jesse Palmer how she felt really bad about disappointing and hurting Gerry.
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"If circumstances had been different and you stayed, you think it might've worked out with Gerry?" Jesse asked the bachelorette.
"I think we had a good chance," Joan replied.
"Gerry helped make me feel visible. He looked at me and he cared about what I was saying and he wanted to get to know me. Society makes us feel like we've had out chance, we've had our children, and now it's time to support the next generation and kind of take a backseat. And Gerry opened my heart."
Joan told The Wrap in November 2023 that she briefly considered returning to The Golden Bachelor and resuming filming once she helped her daughter because she felt like she had "unfinished business."
However, Joan soon came to realize that her daughter's mental health was still suffering and she needed to stay by her side.
Even though Joan didn't return to The Golden Bachelor, she admitted to Jesse on The Women Tell All that she "held out hope" Gerry would also quit the show and chase her down.
"I did think a couple times maybe I would come around the corner, coming home from work, and [Gerry] would be sitting on my front porch," Joan confessed.
Joan said she sometimes caught herself thinking about what could have been with Gerry.
"I went from wanting to find somebody to craving it now. It was such a good feeling and I'm working hard to find it; I'm not giving up," Joan shared.
Joan took to Instagram shortly after The Golden Bachelor episode featuring her exit aired on ABC, and she gave "a huge thank you" to viewers for "expressing their concern" about her family.
She also hinted that she'd like to continue her journey to find love on TV, writing, "Sometimes the timing doesn't work out with finding love. I hope one day I will get the chance at love again."
Gerry ultimately selected Theresa Nist as his winner and the couple got engaged during the November 2023 season finale.
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The Golden Bachelor couple got married in a live televised special dubbed The Golden Wedding on January 4 on ABC, but they announced their decision to divorce just three months later on April 12.
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