Joan Vassos’ journey to find love is now beginning.
“Excited, nervous, and overpacked … but, mostly ready to get this golden journey started ✨,” The Golden Bachelorette star, 61, wrote via Instagram on Wednesday, June 12, alongside a video of her packing her suitcase. “Feeling all the feels as I pack up to start my next chapter at the Bachelor Mansion 🌹.”
Joan admitted that she’s never felt “this vulnerable and grateful at the same time.”
“I’m thankful to have the most supportive friends, family and viewers a golden girl could ask for,” she added. “I’m not sure what this journey holds, but if it’s anything like my suitcase, it’s sure to be FULL of surprises! Here I go…”
In the video, Joan is surrounded by two open suitcases with clothes lying around her. She shared that she was leaving “tomorrow” and she was struggling to decide what to pack.
“It’s a disaster here ‘cause I have no idea what to bring because I don’t know what any of the dates are,” she said in the clip before pointing to her grandson who was behind her. “Maverick is back there, helping me pack. He’s learning how to crawl.”
Joan noted that by the time she gets back, her grandson should be up and walking by then. She got emotional thinking about missing Maverick’s monumental moment.
“It’s bittersweet. I’m leaving my family for seven weeks,” she reflected. “But you know in the end I could come back and maybe have the love of my life and someone to share my great life with.”
Fans of the series met Joan during The Golden Bachelor as one of the several women vying for the heart of Gerry Turner. However, Joan’s journey came to an end early when she left the show to care for her daughter after giving birth.
She was announced as the next lead last month. “The secret is out!” Joan wrote via her Instagram Story after news broke about her casting. “I’m honored to be #TheGoldenBachelorette.”
Since being announced as the show’s lead, Joan has been honest about being realistic about what could happen especially after Gerry split from Theresa Nist shortly after their season aired.
“If it ends up in engagement, I’m open to that,” Joan said in a May interview with CNN. “I do believe this process works. I’ve seen it work for so many couples on The Bachelor, so I believe in the process. If it ends up in engagement, that’s great.”
Joan also acknowledged that she doesn’t need an engagement at the end of filming if she and her respective partner want to get to “know each other better in the outside world” before settling down right away.
“I probably won’t rush into a marriage right away — and not only because of what happened with Gerry and Theresa,” she explained. “I think it takes some time to really get to know somebody. Out in the wild, in the real world, you need to spend some time there.”
The Golden Bachelorette is expected to air on ABC in the fall.
