After a season filled with drama, heartbreak, and the search for true love, Joan Vassos has found her happy ending on the inaugural season of The Golden Bachelorette. The 61-year-old private school administrator from Maryland accepted a marriage proposal from Chock Chapple, a 61-year-old entrepreneur from Kansas, in the emotional finale that aired on November 13th.
Pascal Ibgui, a 69-year-old salon owner who chose to self-eliminate before the Fantasy Suite dates, left Joan feeling dejected at the start of the finale episode. “When Pascal said he didn’t love me, it hurt,” Joan said tearfully. The notion that I might not be lovable intensifies. The walls have been raised once more, and I am now filled with fear.
Luckily, Joan’s dear friend Nancy was there to provide some much-needed encouragement. “You know you’re not unlovable,” Nancy told her. “You are so deserving of love.” With Nancy’s pep talk, Joan regained her confidence and set her sights on her final two suitors—Chock and Guy Gansert, a 66-year-old ER doctor.
In Bora Bora, Joan had an emotional reunion with her children—Nick, Erica, Allison, and Luke—as well as her son-in-law Noah and future daughter-in-law Brooke. “Someone said to me, which was such a gift, ‘You don’t have to let go of loving John. You can love somebody else, too,'” Joan recalled, referencing her late husband. “It gave me the freedom to actually fall in love.”
Although Chock boldly kissed Joan in front of her family, the gesture appeared to irritate her children. However, Nick and his fiancée Brooke expressed their support for their mom’s journey, telling her, “It’s about time that you do something for yourself.”
When it came time for the final rose ceremony, Joan had a difficult decision to make. After her “Last Chance Date” with Chock, where he professed his love and presented her with a symbolic key, Joan knew her heart belonged to him.
“I woke up this morning thinking about the date that I had with Chock yesterday,” she said. “When I heard that Chock loves me and wants to spend the rest of his life with me, I realized that I had truly found love.” I know what I have to do.”
With a heavy heart, Joan broke the news to Guy that she had fallen for someone else. “I care about you so, so, so much,” she told him. “My heart now belongs to someone else.” Guy, heartbroken, admitted, “I was ready.” Losing Joan makes me feel devastated. Sick to my stomach. I’m heartbroken.”
When it was time for the final proposal, Chock didn’t hold back. “As we look forward, we do need to look back [at] John and Kathy,” he said. “I give you my word that I’ll honor him by loving you every day. That is the most important thing to me.” Joan reciprocated, saying, “We are living proof that no matter what life throws at you, there is still hope—even at our age.” Chock then proposed to Joan, who joyfully accepted his proposal.
“I fell in love with you, and I was ready to let it all out,” Guy told Joan during the live After the Final Rose special. While disappointed, he expressed gratitude for the experience, saying, “I thought I was the guy. I was convinced.”
For her part, Joan assured Guy that he had not fallen short in any way. “It comes down to being, like, kind of a time thing,” she explained. “It was really, really, really hard at the end to say goodbye to you… I hope we’ll be friends and double date, eventually.”
As for the newly engaged couple, Joan and Chock are wasting no time in starting their new life together. They plan to throw a huge engagement party in Los Angeles before heading to New York City to apartment hunt.
“This first year, obviously, we have to kind of figure out life,” Joan told Us Weekly. “But we have this really fun plan because both of us have always dreamed—and we’re finally at this weird stage in life for making this dream come true—that we live in a big city, and, specifically, we’ve always wanted to live in New York.”
Chock added, “We both love the energy in the city, and we love that there’s always something to do.” We just want to go out and walk and experience life—go to fun restaurants and [experience the] culture.” Here’s to a long, happy, and adventure-filled journey for Joan and Chock. Congratulations to the Golden Bachelorette and her new fiancé!