Joana Vassos I received some words of wisdom from Gerry Turner after she was named the first Golden Single.
ET’s Denny Directo spoke with the franchise’s newest lead just before filming began on her season, and she revealed that her ex, who she once dated The Golden Bachelorgave him some advice about your journey for love.
“We text all the time. He’s a really, really good friend,” Joan told ET of Gerry, who has since got divorced of his final choice, Theresa Nist. “He did it so well. He kind of created the script that we have now. There’s no rule book, and he kind of wrote it a little bit.”
“He exemplified someone who is very open and vulnerable. He said this is what you need to be from day one because you don’t have much time,” she continued. “This is a quick journey. You can’t leave anything on the table. I feel like on day one, starting the conversation, everything you do here is important.”
About The Golden BachelorJoan had to leave the show early due to her daughter’s health issue, making it even more surprising for her that she was chosen as the franchise’s next lead.
“I thought I would be that girl who left and no one remembers. I truly believed this would be the outcome,” she said. “I was really sad about it, honestly, because I loved being here. I think the process worked. I was sad when I had to leave, so to have the opportunity to come back and (have) people actually remember me a little bit (is amazing) .”
As for why people remembered her, Joan, whose husband of 32 years died in 2021, speculated that her story had a lot to do with it.
“I think a family story resonates with a lot of people, and a lot of people relate to it,” she said. “I got so many messages about when I said I felt invisible as I got older… I thought no one in the world felt that way. I thought it was just me. It resonated with people… I just got lucky, honestly.”
Now that she’s in this position as the first Golden Bachelorette, Joan admitted that she’s nervous about what’s to come.
“I think about Trista, the first Bachelorette, and she is an icon. She’s the OG,” Joan said of Trista Sutterwho is married and has children with her final choice, Ryan Sutter. “I don’t know if I will ever be revered like her. Her love story was perfect. She has a lovely family, a beautiful husband, she has lovely children. She had the perfect ending to this journey, so I hope to have an epic ending like she had.
To overcome this pressure, Joan told ET that she thinks about the positive impact The Golden Bachelor had in so many.
“I think it’s more about the bigger story, which is about people our age dating. The hope is that when you see someone doing this successfully and having fun, it’s still worthy and that you can be a little selfish and deserve love,” she said. “I’m just an example. I’m just one of many people who should be doing this and feel like they have the right to have love in their life.”
“I feel like it resonates with a lot of things, just the concept of finding love and being tough,” Joan added. “Finding love in the wild, organically, is not very easy. People now make dating apps and set you up. There are a lot of ways to find love, this is one of them and it’s on TV.”
The fact that it’s on TV is good news for audiences who loved watching Joan and the other women on The Golden Bachelor. The newly minted reality stars have formed beloved friendships off-screen with the series, and it’s something Joan hopes to showcase on her season.
“I keep asking producers. I would love for every one of them to be here,” she said of the women of The Golden Bachelor. “I’m still good friends with literally all of them, and very good friends with some that I talk to daily. We are very close.”
“They also go on this journey. They will be the best people to give me advice,” continued Joan. “…I’d love to have some of them, and I’d love them for the TV factor, because they’re so much fun and I trust them.”
Joan’s Journey to Love will air Wednesdays this fall on ABC.