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In part, these heart-wrenching decisions are a function of how rapidly things move on the show. “You create these connections with the men really, really quickly because they share things that have happened in their lives that are life-changing events, and you don’t normally get those conversations early on in a relationship,” she said. In each episode, Vassos faced the challenge of choosing who she imagines spending her future with and doing so on national television, surrounded by a TV crew. How did she stay in touch with her feel-
DISNEY/CHRISTOPHER WILLARD
Forming fast relationships
DECEMBER 2024
I N S I D E … RICHMOND REGION TOURISM
Our own Golden Bachelorette By Laura Sturza Of all the talented contestants who viewers faithfully followed on season one of ABC’s “The Golden Bachelor,” producers chose Rockville, Maryland’s Joan Vassos to be the lead in the first season of “The Golden Bachelorette.” The show is another spinoff of “The Bachelor,” a reality TV program that premiered in 2002. The franchise produces romance and relationship shows that offer unmarried contestants a chance to find love in front of millions of TV viewers. Vassos, a 61-year-old school administrator and grandmother, lost her husband of 32 years to pancreatic cancer, and first sought love on “The Golden Bachelor” last year. She had to leave that show early when her daughter had complications from giving birth (both daughter and grandchild are fine). This season, she had to make the hard decisions about which eligible bachelors stayed in the running and which went home. ABC revealed her final choice in the season finale on November 13. Vassos started off with 24 prospective fiancés, ages 57 to 69, including a retired UN agency director, an ER doctor, a retired Navy captain, a salon owner, and a fire department chief. Winnowing down the field of suitors took place at “rose ceremonies,” in which she handed out roses only to the men who she chose to remain on the show. “The rose ceremonies are so painful, and you don’t want [to hurt] these lovely men who have been so open and vulnerable, and who are maybe not love connections but are your friends,” Vassos said.
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LEISURE & TRAVEL
Richmond’s world-class museums and restaurants make for a great weekend getaway; plus, how to score a few hours in an airport lounge, and the new rules for airline refunds page 15
Joan Vassos, 61, starred in ABC’s new series “The Golden Bachelorette.” The Maryland grandmother chose Chock Chapple, an insurance executive from Kansas, in the season finale in November. They are engaged, but Vassos has vowed to stay in Maryland.
ings and listen to her heart’s desire while all that was happening? “That was really hard,” Vassos said. “Your interactions are brief, and you need to be very revealing, and you need to show who you are right off the bat. “There’s so much to process, and then you have to kind of weave in your emotions with [what they are saying] to see if you’re a good fit,” Vassos added. As she developed feelings for the men, she had to get used to the idea of a new life partner. “That in itself was scary because I hadn’t done that since [my husband] John passed away, so even allowing myself to have feelings that I hadn’t had before was hard.” In episode three, she grappled with whether she was as ready to remarry as she had thought — a topic many of her
suitors also had to address for themselves. “I thought, how can I do this? I still love John,” Vassos said. “So, I met with the show psychiatrist, who is available to us at all times.” Doing so helped her have a breakthrough. “They said...you don’t have to let go of John to hold on to this person. You can hold on to both of them.” Vassos said. “It made me so much happier...and I finally got this freedom.”
ARTS & STYLE
Time travel and witticisms converge in the humorous play On the Verge at Fells Point Corner Theatre page 19
FITNESS & HEALTH k How the brain self-cleans k Aid may help smokers quit
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LAW & MONEY k Romance scam red flags k Help with medical bills
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Long-distance future The only bachelor who lived relatively close to Vassos was Pablo, a 63-year-old retired United Nations agency director from Cambridge, Maryland, almost two hours from her home. He left the show in the first episode. See BACHELORETTE, page 20
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