1 day Ago By Althea Legaspi
When Joan Vassos appeared on The Golden Bachelor last year, attempting to win the heart of Gerry Turner before she left the show early because of a family emergency, she said something that resonated deeply with many viewers: “As you get older you become more invisible. People don’t see you anymore. You’re not as significant as when you’re young.
” Now that Vassos, 61, is starring in the inaugural season of ABC’s The Golden Bachelorette , she’s learning that not only did that sentiment strike a chord with female viewers of a certain age, but her words also impacted some of the men who showed up to the Bachelor Mansion this season. During a one-on-one conversation with Jonathan, a 61-year-old shipping consultant from Iowa, he let Vassos know he was touched by her vulnerability. He, too, relates to feeling invisible at his age.
“It was so surprising when he said it, because he’s a tall, good looking, handsome man,” Vassos tells Rolling Stone . “He looks so young, he looks like he’s in his forties. It shocked me to hear that he felt that way.
I thought that I was the only person feeling this way and I just kind of blurted it out in the limo on my way out of the mansion. So many people DMed me and messaged me and said, ‘You verbalized the way I’ve been feeling forever.’ And when Jonathan said it, it was just another person that reinforced that.
” The Golden Bachelorette premiered on Wednesday night, following in the footsteps of The Golden Bachelor , which was quickly embraced by viewers after its premiere in September 2023. That first episode garnered 4.4 million viewers , and more than 6 million people watched Turner’s proposal in the season finale — making it the most-viewed Bachelor episode since 2021.
The Golden Bachelor offered something new, not only for Bachelor Nation but for reality TV fans at large: a seemingly earnest man and group of women, all over the age of 60, who appeared to genuinely want to find love in this next phase of their lives. After Turner proposed to Theresa Nist, there was even a televised Golden Wedding . Editor’s picks The 100 Best TV Episodes of All Time The 250 Greatest Guitarists of All Time The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time 25 Most Influential Creators of 2024 But some of that magic faded when The Hollywood Reporter published an exposé about Turner’s past, alleging the inaugural Golden Bachelor misrepresented his romantic history and his professional dealings.
Then, after only being married for three months, Turner and Nist announced they were getting divorced. It wasn’t lost on Vassos that given both the success and controversy of The Golden Bachelor , a lot is riding on her moment in the spotlight. “As if dating on national TV wasn’t enough.
I did feel extra pressure, honestly.” Vassos says. “Gerry did a really good job of being open and vulnerable and he encouraged us women to do the same thing.
He formed strong connections with people and he fell in love. I witnessed it. They got married like some older people do because they said, ‘We don’t want to waste any time,’ and then it didn’t work out and that is so real life.
” Vassos adds that the public “should give them some grace” for putting themselves out there and also for ending the relationship if that’s what was in their best interest. While The Golden Bachelor was able to successfully cast a group of compelling older women who were willing to appear on television, some fans were skeptical that The Golden Bachelorette would be able to find a solid cast of men — Vassos included. She says she had “no idea” what to expect.
“I was a little worried that maybe men weren’t going to apply to this,” she says. “I just think about men that age and I’m thinking they’re going to be like, ‘I’ll just go with my friends. I’m fine.
I don’t need a woman,’ or, ‘I’m not going to put myself out on this massive national stage to do it.’ So, I wasn’t positive that we were going to have a lot of great applicants.” Related How to Watch 'The Golden Bachelorette' Premiere Online Without Cable The 'Golden Bachelor' Wedding Was a Total Lovefest ‘Golden Bachelor’ Finale Shocks Audiences With Twists and Heartbreak On Wednesday night’s premiere, we see Vassos’ suitors make their grand entrances in classic Bachelor fashion, exiting their limos and approaching her with their best pick-up lines or bits.
It was a full-circle moment for Vassos. “I remembered how terrified I was when I was in the limo,” Vassos says. “I second-guessed why I was there, so I had such empathy for the guys each time the limo came up.
I think about older men and how fragile they are when it comes to their feelings. They’re putting themselves out there in a big way and I was really conscious that they were going to get hurt. I just wanted them to do their best and I wanted them to feel really good about themselves when all of this gets shown on national TV.
” Despite her nerves, Vassos says she was reassured when she met this group of men: It didn’t take her long to learn that they’re fun to be around, have “huge personalities,” and have poignant personal histories. “They all have really heartwarming stories and you could see how they suffered and how they’ve come out of it,” Vassos says. “And they are such good friends to each other.
That happens on night one. They bond in the mansion and they support each other on their emotional journeys. They cry together, they laugh together, they tease each other, and they cook in the kitchen together.
They are the story, honestly. I am a side note.” After meeting all of the men, Vassos’ first-impression rose went to Keith, a 62-year-old self-described “girl dad” from California.
It wasn’t easy for Vassos to send people home after the first rose ceremony, she says, given the sacrifices the men made to be there. But the way Vassos sees it, even taking the step to show up to the Bachelor Mansion and throw their hats into the ring is one step closer to being less invisible in a world that doesn’t always prioritize people in their golden years. “When Jonathan said that [in our one-on-one], I felt like every person that comes on the show is doing something to make themselves visible again,” Vassos says.
“They’re trying really hard. They’ve made this big effort to leave their families and their friends and their jobs and whatever, their dogs, to come on the show and to only live it for a night or for one day is just not enough.” But, Vassos adds, even for those who’ve already headed home, “they still won in a way, because they showed the world how brave they were and they have become visible because they did this big thing.
I think that we all need to make an effort to see everybody else and to be seen, to do things that make ourselves significant again, and don’t accept being insignificant.”.
