Reality TV
Joan Left The Golden Bachelor For A Family Emergency
“I can’t tell you how disappointed I am,” Gerry said during his tearful goodbye.
Before The Golden Bachelor began filming, Gerry Turner voiced a potential red flag. “I’ve dated a few women along the way, and it’s very revealing when someone doesn’t have good, friendly ties with their children,” he told Bachelor Happy Hour. “It manifests in a number of negative ways.”
Fortunately, he hasn’t encountered that in his season so far — quite the contrary, in fact. Gerry’s forged connections with several women who are so close to their families that they’re ready to leave the show to be with them, if needed.
It happened with Marina Perera, the teacher who exited off-camera in Episode 2. Now, it’s happened again with school administrator Joan Vassos during The Golden Bachelor Oct. 12 episode.
Grandma Duties vs. Golden Bachelor
After putting herself out there with a poem during the group date talent show, Joan earned a one-on-one date with Gerry. Here, she opened up about her late husband of 32 years, and her life before going on the show. “I have a daughter who just had a baby 15 days ago,” she said, adding that it was a difficult delivery.
Still, Joan decided to move forward on the show. “For the first time in my life, I thought, I am really gonna do something for myself,” she recalled. “I think I’m ready, and this is an opportunity that I just can’t let go.”
Joan described the date as “one of the best nights of [her] life.” But the next morning, she received a text from her daughter — and Joan realized she needed to provide support at home.
“Things go wrong,” she said in a confessional. “And even if everything went right, like, you need your mom.”
Gerry’s Reaction & Joan’s Silver Lining
Joan explained the situation to her friends before telling Gerry. “I think that I need to go home and be a mom ... as much as I don’t want to leave, and I don’t want to leave our journey.”
Gerry said he understood — though he was tearful at the heartbreaking turn of events. “I can’t tell you how disappointed I am,” he said, acknowledging that “sometimes the right thing to do is the hardest.”
But there’s a silver lining. “My heart maybe got a little fixed from Gerry,” Joan said on the car ride home. “He helped ... because as you get older, you get more invisible. People don’t see you anymore. Like, you’re not as significant as when you’re young.”
Since her time on the show ended, Joan has shared snippets of her life at home on Instagram — from watching her Golden Bachelor premiere with friends and family to posting her very first cooking video: homemade chicken soup for her 91-year-old mom. As Joan proved on screen, family is her No. 1 priority.
