The Golden Bachelorette will premiere this fall with lead Joan Vassos. After exiting The Golden Bachelor early due to a family emergency, ABC confirmed that the private school administrator will return for another shot at finding love.
“The Golden Bachelorette joins the Wednesday night lineup,” ABC announced in a May 14 press release. “Where one radiant woman in her golden years will have a second chance at finding love.”
And Bachelor Nation is already getting a glimpse of Joan Vassos in all her golden glory in a promo shared to social media, where she grabs a golden rose and waves to the camera, before declaring, “I’m Joan, and I’ll be your first Golden Bachelorette.”
The 60-year-old, who vied for the heart of inaugural Golden Bachelor Gerry Turner, left the dating series abruptly in episode three due to her daughter giving birth, and subsequent battle with postpartum depression.
Joan Vassos previously admitted to wanting to return to The Bachelor Mansion as soon as she left.
“I wanted to come back very, very badly,” she explained to E! News in November. “I think Gerry and I had a good connection. And we didn’t have closure, like we had unfinished business.”
However, Jane wanted to be there for her daughter, and ultimately decided to rule out love for the season. As she put it, “I couldn’t do it.”
The Golden Bachelor ultimately saw Gerry Turner, 72, find love with 70-year-old Theresa Nist—with the two even marrying in a televised special—but the pair announced they were parting ways after three months of marriage in April.
Still, the former couple, who cited their dedication to each living close to their respective families in different states, don’t regret their time on the ABC reality series, nor do they want their breakup to shadow the positive effects of the show.
“We have received so much love and support from so many people who watched The Golden Bachelor, and I don’t think we can tell you how many people told us that it gave them so much hope,” Theresa told Good Morning America in a joint interview with Gerry. “We want none of that to change for anybody.”
And The Golden Bachelorette is already glittering, as Joan will get a second chance at love this fall.