Joan’s Golden Bachelorette Cast Includes A Familiar Face

During her time on The Golden Bachelor, Joan Vassos famously stepped away from a budding connection with Gerry Turner due to a family emergency back at home. “As for me and my journey to love… guess we will have to see where it takes me next,” she wrote on Instagram at the time.

Now, that journey has taken her here — to the debut season of The Golden Bachelorette. One month before Joan’s season premieres on Sept. 18, ABC introduced fans to the 24 men who will be arriving at Bachelor Mansion in the hopes of finding love (and all the roses) with the 61-year-old school administrator.

Joan’s only deal-breaker for the guys? “This is really very minuscule and weird, but I hate someone who’s rude to a service person — a waitress, or the checker at the grocery store — that really turns me off,” she told Entertainment Tonight from Bachelor Mansion. “That’s like, I’m walking away from you right now. Goodbye.”

As fans wait to see which suitor fits the bill, here’s a quick peek at Joan’s Golden Bachelorette cast.

Kelsey’s Dad Is Back!

The most notable contestant on Joan’s season may be Kelsey Anderson’s dad, Mark. As you’ll remember, Mark won Bachelor Nation’s collective heart when he appeared during the Hometowns episode on Joey Graziadei’s season of The Bachelor.

Fans speculated that Mark might lead The Golden Bachelor., and Jesse Palmer stoked those hopes at After the Final Rose, simply telling Mark that “maybe we’ll be seeing you soon down the road.” If he doesn’t find love with Joan on The Golden Bachelorette, it’s safe to say fans would happily support him as the next lead. But until then, he’ll be one to watch on Joan’s season.

Joan even told ET that after she and Kelsey both had a “couple drinks” at a Bachelor event, Kelsey voiced her support for the potential pairing. “She said, ‘Oh, you could be my stepmom one day,’” the Golden Bachelorette recalled.

At the time of the pre-production interview, Joan hadn’t met Mark, but she said he seemed sweet, handsome, and family-oriented. “He lost his spouse. I think we have a lot in common,” she said. “I don’t doubt that we could have maybe a little spark.”

Meet The Rest Of Joan’s Suitors

In addition to 57-year-old Mark, who is an army veteran, here’s the rest of the cast (via ABC):

• William “Bill,” 68, a retired videographer from Portland, Oregon
• Robert “Bob,” 66, a chiropractor from Marina Del Rey, California
• Charles K., 62, a portfolio manager from Rancho Palos Verdes, California
• Charles L., 66, a retired financial analyst from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Charles “Chock,” 60, an insurance executive from Wichita, Kansas
• Christopher, 64, a contractor from West Babylon, New York
• Daniel “Dan,” 64, a private investor from Naples, Florida
• David, 68, a rancher from Austin, Texas
• Gary, 65, a retired finance executive from Palm Desert, California
• Gil, 60, an educator from Mission Viejo, California
• Gregg, 64, a retired university VP from Longboat Key, Florida
• Guy, 66, an ER doctor from Reno, Nevada
• John “Jack,” 68, a caterer from Chicago, Illinois
• Jonathan, 61, a shipping consultant from Oakland, Iowa
• Jordan, 61, a sales manager from Chicago, Illinois
• Keith, 62, a girl dad from San Jose, California
• Kenneth “Ken,” 60, a property management treasurer from Peabody, Massachusetts
• Kim, 69, a retired navy captain from Seattle, Washington
• Michael, 65, a retired banking CEO from Denver, North Carolina
• Pablo, 63, a retired UN agency director from Cambridge, Maryland
• Pascal, 69, a salon owner from Chicago, Illinois
• Ralph “RJ,” 66, a financial advisor from Irvine, California
• Thomas, 62, a fire department chief from New York, New York

Interestingly, you’ll note that only one contestant hails from Joan’s home state of Maryland. Joan told CNN that she would “never leave [her] family” for a relationship, but would be open to a “dual life” where partners could travel to spend time with each other.

“And then maybe eventually, you figure out a destination that would work for you and your families or have another house where everybody gets together,” she said.