As the inaugural season of The Golden Bachelorette hurtles towards its conclusion, I'm convinced it was even better than The Golden Bachelor. Don't get me wrong, I loved the first season of The Bachelor spin-off. The show broke ground as the first dating show that centered around the love lives of seniors. The first season introduced audiences to 72-year-old Gerry Turner and 22 single older women who competed for his roses. Among the women was Joan Vassos, a 61-year-old private school administrator from Maryland.
Joan hit it off with Gerry during a group date, but she had to leave The Golden Bachelor season 1 due to a family emergency. Just as it seemed like Joan's Bachelor journey had come to an end, she was cast as The Golden Bachelorette. After dating 24 single men on The Golden Bachelorette, Joan has narrowed the field down to 60-year-old Chock Chapple and 66-year-old Guy Gansert. With the season finale on the horizon, here's why I think Joan's season of The Bachelor spin-off was even better than Gerry's.
Joan Was Sincerer In Her Pursuit of Love
She Was A More Captivating Lead
Before being cast as The Golden Bachelorette, Joan was a widower living a quiet life in Maryland. Joan was married to John Vassos, the love of her life, for 32 years until he passed away in 2021. She was deeply in love with John and struggled with feelings of guilt about moving on and starting to date again. According to Joan, right before he died, John told her he didn't want her to be alone for the rest of her life. To me, Joan seemed more sincere in her pursuit of love, making her more captivating.
Joan Never Lied Unlike Gerry Did Regarding Past Relationships
He Wasn't Who He Claimed
Like Joan, Gerry was a widower before being cast as The Golden Bachelor. The retired restaurateur had been married to Toni Turner for 32 years until she passed away in 2018 after a brief illness. When Gerry made his television debut, he told a sad story about a widower in deep mourning. He claimed he had been single since his late wife died, but that turned out to be complete fiction. Not only had Gerry been in a serious long-term relationship with a live-in girlfriend, but he had started dating again almost immediately after his wife's passing.
To make matters worse, the relationship ended badly when Gerry unceremoniously threw the woman out of his house, where she allegedly lived. Despite the red flags flapping all over the place, Theresa went on to marry Gerry after the truth about his past was revealed. They tied the knot a few weeks after The Golden Bachelor finale aired on ABC, but the septuagenarian newlyweds announced their divorce three months later. I hope Joan doesn't make the same mistake with whoever she gives her final rose to.
The Men On Joan's Season Were More Entertaining To Watch
Greatest Bachelor Cast Of All Time?
One of the best things about The Golden Bachelorette season 1 was the cast. The Golden Bachelorette men may have traveled to the iconic Bachelor mansion to fight over Joan, but that didn't mean they could have fun together. They all seemed to like and admire each other, and I personally found it to be entertaining in the most wholesome way. Though many of the men wanted to win Joan's heart, they never let it get in the way of forming meaningful friendships that I have no doubt will continue beyond the show.
Seeing Joan's men get along was a nice break from the usual dramatic shenanigans that go on between contestants on Bachelor Nation shows.
This isn't to suggest that the women on The Golden Bachelor season 1 weren't perfectly wonderful. They brought more drama than Joan's men, which can be entertaining too, but watching Joan's boyfriends doing cannonballs into the swimming pool can't be beaten. With The Golden Bachelorette season 1's finale just around the corner, Joan finds herself having to choose between Chock and Guy. Hopefully, her season will end with a more successful relationship than Gerry's.
