Joan Vassos Reveals What She’ll “Never” Do On The Golden Bachelorette

Joan Vassos is laying out the rules for her season of The Golden Bachelorette. On May 14, ABC announced that Joan will front the inaugural season of the spin-off series.

“The secret is out!” Joan wrote on her Instagram story, adding that she is “honored” to have been chosen as the lead. Speaking to CNN after the announcement, she revealed that while she’s excited to meet the show’s eligible suitors, she’ll “never leave my family” for a man.

“They are the most important people in the world to me obviously, and I would expect that to be the same for the person that I end up with,” she said. “Family is so important to me, that would have to be a key part of their personality.”

Joan’s strong family bond was on full display during her Golden Bachelor stint. On the show, she and Gerry Turner formed a deep connection. However, Joan’s daughter had a baby shortly before filming began, and she decided to bow out. “Family comes first, period,” she said of her decision to leave. “Once a mother, always a mother, I’ll always choose my kids first.”

In her conversation with CNN, Joan outlined how a relationship with the future Golden Bachelorette winner might look, should they hail from a different part of the country.

“You have to be willing to travel and be with that person and maybe spend a couple of months or a couple of weeks at a time,” she said. “Then maybe eventually, you figure out a destination that would work for you and your families or have another house where everybody gets together.”

As fans saw with The Golden Bachelor’s Gerry and Theresa Nist, disagreeing on a place to settle down can be a deal breaker, and played a major factor in the pair’s decision to divorce.

Joan’s Golden Future

Before Joan’s Golden Bachelorette announcement, she had already expressed interest in leading the spin-off. Speaking previously to Bustle, she said she’d be down to star in a dual season with her former co-star Sandra Mason, similar to The Bachelorette alums Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia.

Among the first to congratulate Joan on the new season was the Golden Bachelor himself. “You will be phenomenal as the new representative of a generation,” Gerry wrote in an Instagram post, and encouraged her to “relax, breathe, and enjoy.”

The Golden Bachelorette Season 1 is set to premiere this fall in an all-new slot: Wednesday nights from 8-9:30 p.m. ET.