Golden Bachelorette star Joan Vassos faces pressure on Gerry Turner's season

LOS ANGELES – We already have a bit of a false situation, even before Joan Vassos shows up to star on the historic “The Golden Bachelorette” on Wednesday (8 p.m. EDT/PDT).

Vassos, 61, says her four adult children supported her when they learned the Rockville, Md., private school administrator would be ABC’s Golden Bachelorette — the first senior woman to seek love with 24 male contestants of the same age, following last year’s hit inaugural season of “The Golden Bachelor.”

However, the Vassos clan collectively (and unfairly) demanded that the grandmother of three not be allowed to kiss anyone on television, and they vetoed the franchise’s staple Fantasy Suites nights.

“You have to kiss frogs to find your prince,” Vassos told USA TODAY. “So I promised them I wouldn’t do it, knowing I was lying all along. They don’t know and I’m not going to tell them anything.”

“Golden Bachelorette” Premiere: Joan Vassos to Meet Kelsey Anderson’s ‘Hot Dad’ Mark, Who’s Already a Star

It’s a final pass for Vassos, who was just a brief ray of sunshine among the 22 “Golden Bachelor” contestants. Vassos, whose husband of 32 years passed away in 2021, bonded with widower Gerry Turner after the loss of their respective longtime spouses during an emotional but romantic dinner in Episode 3. Then she tearfully exited (or “self-eliminated”) the next morning from the reality show due to a family emergency.

Although it was painful at the time, Vassos believes Bachelor Nation applauded her decision to leave the Bachelor mansion to care for her daughter, who was recovering from a difficult childbirth.

“At that age, you have a lot of responsibilities: my children, my mother is 92, my mother-in-law,” Vassos says. “Excluding yourself from the show really touched people.”

Vassos believes her sad early departure from television was a big reason she got a surprising call from three show producers asking her to try her hand at television for a second time on “Golden Bachelorette.”

“Some characters have lasted longer on the show and were perhaps more deserving,” Vassos says. “But it was a good decision to make.”

‘Golden Bachelorette’s’ Vassos Felt ‘Pressure’ After ‘Golden Bachelor’ Split

There were downsides to agreeing to take part in a high-profile televised dating experiment. As fans know, the initially exuberant season of “Golden Bachelor” was disrupted, compounded by The Hollywood Reporter’s Nov. 29 exposé on Turner’s “not-so-golden past,” which claimed the Indiana-based widower had misled viewers about his love life and professional credentials. Turner, who declined to comment for the article, married Theresa Nist on Jan. 4 in a wedding ceremony broadcast live from Palm Springs, Calif. However, the couple announced their divorce in an April 12 interview on “GMA” just three months later. The experience tarnished the “Golden” brand.

Vassos remains respectful of Turner and the couple’s “journey,” as such romances are invariably called.

“We all saw that it didn’t work out,” she said. “And I applaud them for saying that it was over now and that we were still young enough to find love in our lives.”

Still, Vassos admits that the reality show’s disappointing aftermath raises the stakes for his season as “Golden Bachelorette.”

“I feel like it put a little bit of pressure on me, I’m not going to lie,” Vassos says. “I wish I could say I was like, ‘No, I’m going on a journey.’ But part of me was like, ‘I have to be the redemption.’ And if this season doesn’t go the way everyone wants it to, it could be the end of the ‘Golden’ franchise.”

She relaxed as she met the new generation of 24 eclectic men, including Mark Anderson, the stepfather of “Bachelor” alum Kelsey Anderson.

“Yes, I felt pressure, but once I met the guys, I was like, ‘Everything’s going to be okay,’” says Vassos, who is keeping the already-taped ending a secret. “I’m dying to tell you because it’s been an incredible journey. People are going to love the show and the guys.”

One clue she’ll give spontaneously: Vassos, who calls herself “pretty serious,” needs an outgoing man, like her late husband John Vassos. He lit up every room before he died after a two-year battle with pancreatic cancer.

Vassos admits she must have felt guilty about going on a reality TV show after losing her beloved husband. “I was a little worried that I wasn’t honoring his memory,” she says. “And I know people will say, ‘Well, if you were so in love, how could you be on this show?’”

But she says she found the experience emotionally restorative. She talked about the loss with other widows at the “Golden Bachelor” house, which was “the group therapy I needed. And when I came out, I felt great afterward.”

She got past the idea that “Golden Bachelorette” might disrespect John’s memory. After all, he was the biggest fan of both reality shows, watching “Real Housewives” and “The Bachelor.”

“When I told a friend I felt guilty, she said, ‘Oh, that’s so stupid!’” Vassos says. “She told me John was going to look down on me and say, ‘That’s my wife over there.’ He’s going to celebrate and love her, I still believe that. I feel like he’s with me, honestly.”