The inaugural season of The golden bachelorette ended with the engagement of Joan Vassos and Chock Chapple, but there’s good reason to think the relationship is just for show. Joan, 61, and Chock, 60, have been through a lot over the past few years and they both deserved to find love. Joan, a private school administrator from Maryland, was widowed in 2021 and unexpectedly found herself alone at the height of her golden years. When she heard about a new Bachelor spin-off that focused on the love lives of elderly people, she decided to compete in The Golden Bachelor. Although 72-year-old Gerry Turner was interested in Joan, she had a family emergency and had to leave the show early. Although she Bachelor journey was put on hold, she was later cast as the Bachelor the spin-off’s first female protagonist.
Like Joan, Chock was no stranger to loss, having buried his beloved fiancée in 2022. Additionally, Chock lost his mother while filming The golden bachelorette season 1. He even had to opt out of the season to be with his grieving family, in a moment reminiscent of when Joan left Gerry’s season early. Although Joan never returned to The Golden Bachelor season 1, Chock ran back to the Bachelor mansion to stay with Joan. Although Joan liked several other men throughout the season, Chock was always her obvious favorite. During the season finale, Joan gave Chock his final rose, and when he got down on one knee and proposed, Joan enthusiastically accepted. Joan and Chock seem happy now, but here are eight reasons why they’re just a showmance, and not in it for long.
8
Joan is not over her late husband
Survivor’s guilt
Long before joining the cast of The Golden Bachelor season 1, Joan was a lonely widow who grieved deeply for the love of her life. Joan was married to John Vassos for 32 happy years before he passed away in 2021. With her four children grown and out of the home, Joan found herself alone. She loved her late husband deeply and never expected to find herself reentering dating later in life.
Joan jumped into the deep end of dating when she decided to restart her love life on national television. Throughout your time The Golden Bachelor and The golden maiden, she constantly spoke about her beloved late husband with deep affection. Joan expressed deep guilt about dating other men despite John being long gone. Now that the cameras have disappeared, Joan’s guilt over leaving John may make it difficult for her to truly give her heart to Chock.
7
Divorced from Chock
He has a good relationship with his ex-wife
Long before joining the cast of The golden bachelorette In the first season, Chock was married to Heather Chapple (with whom he had two children) for twelve years. Joan met Chock’s college-age sons, Tyler and Taylor Chapple, when she traveled to Kansas for Chock’s hometown reunion. According to Chock, he and Heather have always co-parented their children without any problemsand maintain friendly relations with each other.
The fact that Chock gets along well with his ex-wife is a good sign.
Although Chock’s marriage to Heather ended amicably, the the fact that Chock was divorced makes it statistically more likely that his next marriage will end in divorce also. Joan takes a big risk by dating a divorced man, but at this point, Joan and Chock are not planning a wedding. Although Joan might be tempted to let ABC pay for a luxury Golden Bachelor wedding, as they did with Gerry and Theresa, it would be best to avoid walking down the aisle with Chock.
6
Chock’s Long Engagement
His Divorce Could Have Made Him Afraid of Commitment
After his marriage to Heather ended in divorce, Chock met Katherine Elizabeth White Goree. The couple was engaged for nine years before she passed away in 2022. During Joan and Chock’s first solo date, he said that losing Heather was the most devastating loss of his life. Chock is still close with his late fiancée’s family. In fact, when Joan went to Kansas to meet Chock’s friends and family, Katherine’s father was still close to Chock and the Chapple family. While it’s clear that Chock deeply loved his late fiancée, the long engagement may mean he won’t be able to commit. It’s possible that his divorce has made him shy about commitment, which could be devastating for Joan.
5
Chock is a possessive man
He acted like Joan was his property
Joan and Chock had instant chemistry, and he even got his first solo date, a dream date at Disneyland. They met Mickey and Minnie Mouse, went on some rides and shared a romantic kiss while the Magic Kingdom’s famous fireworks exploded in the sky. The next encounter was not so magical. During an episode of The golden bachelorette season 1, Joan took several of the men on a group date to a bowling alleyincluding Shock. Most of the men seemed to be having a great time, but it was clear that Chock didn’t like having to share Joan with the other men.
Chock got used to having Joan all to himself at the Magic Kingdom and couldn’t adjust to the dynamics of the group date.
Chock wasn’t used to group environments, and it showed. He continued to sit next to Joan and put an arm around her. It was disrespectful to the other men, but Chock didn’t seem to notice or care. As for Joan, she didn’t ask Chock to back down, and she really seemed to enjoy his possessive behavior. It seemed to make her feel special and wanted. Chock may remind Joan of her late husband, but possessiveness is a red flag that Joan shouldn’t continue to ignore.
4
Long-distance relationships rarely work
Joan and Chock don’t plan to live together
After getting engaged during The golden bachelorette season 1 finale, Joan and Chock rode off into the sunset to live happily ever after. The day after their engagement, Joan and Chock were interviewed by People, and confessed that they had no intention of living together. “We will be going back and forth between Kansas, Maryland and New York,” Chock said.
“We will have a full-time position in New York and whenever we have the opportunity we will be there.”
Before appearing in The Golden Bachelor and The golden bacheloretteJoan lived in Maryland and Chock lived in Kansas, and neither plan on changing that anytime soon. Joan and Chock do not move in together and instead move back and forth. That It might seem like a good idea now, when the relationship is still fresh It’s exciting, but it can be more challenging as time goes on. If Joan and Chock love each other enough to get engaged, they should want to live together, and it’s a bad sign if they don’t.
3
Joan doesn’t want to take it seriously
Only fools rush
When Joan accepted Chock’s proposal during The golden bachelorette 1st season, it was unexpected, because Joan indicated that she had no intention of getting married at the end of his season. After being announced as the protagonist, Joan was interviewed by CNNwhere she said she would not rush into marriage. She explained that she thought people needed more time to get to know each other before making such a serious commitment.
Joan’s reluctance to get engaged disappeared when Chock knelt down and pulled out a sparkling diamond ring.
The golden bachelorette The first season ended with Joan enthusiastically accepting Chock’s proposal as he slipped the ring onto her finger. It’s possible that Joan changed her mind about getting serious after meeting Chock, but the excitement may be temporary. As soon as the first wave of new love passes, Joan may come to her senses and never walk down the aisle again.
2
Joan didn’t have great options
Your last three weren’t the best choices
After an exciting season of steamy dates and stressful rose ceremonies, Joan has narrowed her field to three men; Chock, Guy Gansert, aged 66, and Pascal Ibgui, aged 69. Pascal was the first to deeply disappoint Joan. During their date night, he panicked after a symbolic bonding ritual made him question his feelings for Joan. In a heartbreaking clip posted to YouTube by Bachelor Nation, Pascal told Joan he saw her more as a friend than a romantic partner. After breaking Joan’s heart, he eliminated himself from the The golden bachelorette and I went home.
Pascal was a terrible choice, but Guy Gansert was even worse.
As The golden bachelorette the first season was on air, People reported that Guy’s ex-wife, Heidi O’Gara, filed a temporary protective order in October 2021. Although Heidi withdrew her request a month later, some of her accusations are disturbing. Heidi accused Guy of having anger issues and engaging in threatening behavior. However order was withdrawn, Guy’s contentious relationship with his ex-wife was a huge red flag. Of the three men, Chock was the best option for Joan.
1
The golden bachelor’s curse?
Joan and Chock could end up like Gerry and Theresa
The inaugural season of The Golden Bachelor it was a huge success and ended with Gerry giving his final rose to 70-year-old Theresa Nist. The two were quickly married in a lavish televised wedding paid for by ABC. In hindsight, Gerry and Theresa should never have gotten marriedand they just got carried away by the romance and excitement. Once the cameras stopped rolling, the septuagenarian newlyweds soon realized they weren’t a good match.
After The Golden Bachelor failed to result in a happy couple, there was a lot of pressure on Joan to right the ship and save the brand.
Now this The golden bachelorette season one has come to an end, it’s unclear whether Joan and Chock will be more successful than Gerry and Theresa. The end result is that people in their golden years are very settled in their lives. They have families, homes, and even careers that are not easily transferable. It’s hard to imagine someone abandoning their lives to be with someone they met on a reality show, but maybe Joan and Chock will find a way to make it work.
|
Joana Vassos |
61 years |
Private school administrator |
Maryland |
|
Chapple shim |
60 years |
Insurance Executive |
Kansas |
The golden bachelorette the first season can be streamed on Hulu.
Sources: People, CNN, Bachelor Nation/YouTube, People