Joan Vassos reveals if she’s still with the winner of ‘The Golden Bachelorette’
Warning: This story contains spoilers for “The Golden Bachelorette.”
It was a love story for the (golden) ages! In the emotional finale of “The Golden Bachelorette,” Joan Vassos chose her winner on the island of Bora Bora.
Her decision came down to Chock Chapple, a 60-year-old insurance executive from Wichita, Kansas, and Guy Gansert, a 66-year-old ER doctor from Reno, Nevada. Ultimately, she chose Chock — the man who said, over and over, he was “crazy about her.”
Joan, who lost her husband John Vassos to pancreatic cancer in 2021, was previously a contestant on “The Golden Bachelor.” She departed the season voluntarily to care for her daughter, who had recently given birth.
“I feel happy about my future now that it looks a lot brighter. Chock is the reason for all of this,” Joan said in a confessional interview.
What happened in the ‘Golden Bachelorette’ finale?
Chock emerged as a frontrunner early on, but his connection with Joan was cemented after meeting her adult children.
The meeting was emotional — Joan’s son Nick seemed to initially balk when Chock kissed Joan on the lips as a way of a greeting.
But her kids came around. Chock promised that he was not here to “replace” their late father in any “way shape or form.”
Joan and her kids also marked the difficulty of her moving on romantically. “If I loved Dad so much, would I be able to fall in love again?” Joan questioned. Nick cheered her on, saying he and his sister were “proud” to see her “take risks,” and proud of the “incredible strength” she demonstrates.
Chock, on his end, said he had a “great time,” calling her family “good people.”
After the date, Chock declared his love for Joan. While Joan didn’t respond, it was enough for her to make up her mind that Chock would be her future husband. She realized was worthy of love — which came into question following her breakup with Pascal Ibgui.
The episode before the finale, Pascal, a salon owner from Chicago, broke up with Joan in an emotional boat cruise in Tahiti, telling her that he didn’t feel a strong connection.
“It just makes me feel like I’m unlovable,” Joan said at the time of the breakup. “If he couldn’t love me, how could anybody love me?”
And so, before Guy had the opportunity to meet Joan’s family, Joan broke up with him. During the “After the Final Rose” special, she clarified that she was “getting there” with Guy, but they needed more time.
“It was really, really hard at the end to say goodbye to you because in any other situation, I would have been with you because we would have had more time,” she said. “It was absolutely nothing you did. I have missed you. It’s been really hard to be away from you.”
She said she hopes she and Guy stay friends and can double date.
Chock proposed on the beach
Heading into the final scenes, Joan and Chock narrated feeling ready and excited to get engaged.
Joan said she wants to “spend the rest of her life” with Chock. She had lost hope in her future — and he helped her bring it back. Chock, meanwhile, said he couldn’t believe he found this “incredible opportunity” at this point in his life.
In his proposal, Chock said he was “so absolutely happy” to be in her life, and have her in his. He acknowledged their late spouses and said he would “honor” John by “loving her every day.”
Joan, similarly, acknowledged the difficulty of having Chock step away from filming because his mother passed away. This, she said, was the moment she knew she couldn’t complete the show’s journey without him.
“We are living proof that no matter what life throws at you, there is still hope, even at our age,” Joan said, proceeding to tell Chock she loved him for the first time.
And with that, Chock got down on one knee and proposed with a Neil Lane ring (naturally). She gave him the final golden rose.
After the proposal, the happy couple FaceTimed with Joan’s mom from the beach, who expressed her shock and delight at meeting her daughter’s new partner.
“I never in a million years thought I’d feel love like this again. Ever,” Joan said.
So, are Joan Vassos and Chock still together?
Host Jesse Palmer revealed Joan and Chock as the franchise’s “newest ‘Golden Bachelorette’ couple,” indicating they are still together.
The couple confirmed it in an interview.
“This feels so good. I’m looking at our family and friends who we’ve never gotten to be with together, so it’s so nice to finally be able to share our love and our story and our future with them,” Joan said to her loved ones, who were sitting in the audience.
“I couldn’t be happier and I want the world to know it,” Chock said. He then spoke up for his fiancée for her behavior on the show. “I want to tell the world, the fans, how classy Joan is and the respect she gave all the other guys,” he added.
Since the engagement, Joan and Chock were able to spend quality time together out of the public eye.
“We cooked, we played crosswords, I mean we did everything,” Chock said.
Jesse, in a surprise at the end of the finale, said the show was sending both of their families on a trip to Disney world, earning lots of claps from Joan’s grandson.