The Golden Bachelorette Joan Vassos Says She ‘Easily’ Could Have Given Out 10 First Impression Roses

(Warning: The following contains spoilers for the series premiere of The Golden Bachelorette. Read at your own risk!)

Joan Vassos’ journey to find love has begun. On Wednesday, The Golden Bachelorette kicked off with the 61-year-old school administrator’s first meetings with the 24 men vying for her heart. Just one year ago, Vassos was in the same position as these suitors: She was one of the women making a limo entrance to meet Gerry Turner in the first season of The Golden Bachelor. And while Vassos did not make it to the end of Turner’s journey — she left during filming because of a family emergency — her search for a second chance at love continues.

In the premiere of The Golden Bachelorettethe grandmother from Rockville, Maryland, shares about her happy marriage with her late husband, John. The couple had 33 years together before he passed away from pancreatic cancer. In an interview with TV Guide, Vassos discussed giving her First Impression Rose to Keith G. — whom the Golden Bachelorette said made her feel “safe,” just like John did — as well as other contestants who made a strong impression on that first night , and her thoughts on the franchise casting suitors from across the country.

Your First Impression Rose went to Keith. At what point in the night did you know the rose was going to him?
Joan Vassos: The night is really long, and the First Impression Rose wasn’t that much on my mind. What happened with Keith, I loved his first impression. I loved him driving in the driveway with that crazy old station wagon, because it really did remind me of my childhood. We had a big old, ugly station wagon like that, and we would take trips with the luggage on the top, the same as he said that he did when he was a kid. And I liked that. But what I really wanted to give Keith the First Impression Rose for you the way he made me feel — he made me feel safe. I felt like he just kind of intuitively knew me. Even though we had never met before, he knew the things that made me happy. We talked about the beach; we were both water people and our happy place was the beach. And he said we should grab a bottle of wine and some cheese and go sit on the beach. Just those little connections made me hopeful that this journey was going to end up well. So the first impression was more about, not the epic way he came in on the driveway, but the way he made me feel once he was there.

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My happy place is also the beach, so I get it! Who were other strong contenders for the First Impression Rose?
Vassos: So many conversations really stood out with me. Gregg, he talked about the beach also. Somebody came in on a horse. They’re just really fun things — Jack sang to me and then cooked me dinner. He was amazing, and he has such personality. But I kept coming back to that feeling of calm and safety, and when you’re in a high-anxiety situation, that particularly resonated with me.

We also saw you had a great connection with Jonathan. When I was watching the episode I thought, Is he getting the First Impression Rose?
Vassos: Oh gosh, I know. How cute was he, the “love at first sight”? That was such an original entrance with the blindfold. The fact that he believes in love at first sight is just really cute, especially from somebody our age, where you may be a little more jaded and a little more realistic. That he believes in that was really cute. Certainly there were so many people I could have given that First Impression Rose. If I had 10 roses, I could have given them out easily.

That’s exciting to hear. I’m also wondering, you said Keith made you feel “safe,” like John did. How much have you dated since John passed?
Vassos: I did some dating. The first year after John passed away, I wasn’t ready, even though everyone said, “Oh, a year, you’ll feel better.” Not true at all. Hardly even remember that year. To be honest, I think I was just going through the motions. The second year is when I feel like I really mourned and maybe got a little farther into that journey. And so about that time, I said, “I need to get out. It’s been two years, I need to get out and start dating.” I’m not getting any younger. And I had a really happy marriage, and I feel like people that have happy marriages miss the feeling of that security and having your person there, your best friend, living in the house with you, and also the person that you plan your future with . And I really miss those feelings, so I really did want to get back out and date.

So I tried; I thought people maybe would set me up. I apparently have no friends who have single friends, because I got set up by very few people. We live in a world of couples. I don’t think there are a lot of singles out there, especially at our age. And then I thought, I’ll meet someone out organically in the wild. So I would say yes to all the things. I would go and be the ninth person at the eight-person table at weddings. I would go to restaurants with friends, and we would sit at the bar to encourage people talk to us. It just didn’t work. I even went on a dating app, I went on one of them, and that felt kind of like a job to me. Honestly, it felt like I was always having to answer text messages and create witty conversation. And I’d just rather meet someone face-to-face. None of those really created a great love story for me, honestly. Sat Bachelor It seemed to be the great next option.

I love that. And as someone who’s on the dating apps right now, it does feel like a job. So I totally feel you.
Vassos: It’s a lot of work, isn’t it? It’s exhausting. I was like, God, I’m behind 20 messages. I don’t have time. I had a job!

Another thing that really stood out to me about the premiere was the diversity of men. I’m wondering if you’ve dated men of different racial backgrounds prior to the show?
Vassos: I have, not a lot. I loved the people that they had on my season. I think they did a great job at selecting them that I would be compatible with.

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There’s a lot of discussion about how for The Golden Bachelor and The Golden Bacheloretteproducers should consider only casting people from around the lead’s hometown given how difficult it would be to leave their families at this point in life. I’m wondering how much this was on your mind, and if it’s something that was discussed with producers during casting?
Vassos: I had lots of discussions with producers about the type of man that I would like. I am actually really happy that they didn’t try to keep things around my hometown — I could probably meet those people on my own by being on a dating app. I think expanding the group of men that could potentially be a good match for me was fine. I do get that people think there are challenges if you live far away from each other. And I think that kind of has to do with where you are in life. If you’re still working, if you have family that you’re super close to — both things, by the way, that I did have. I have family that live around me that I am not leaving, and I actually, up until recently, was working. Right now, I’m on a leave of absence. But I think that that comes into play and that requires some serious discussions and figure out how you make it work. And I don’t think that they are impossible to overcome.

Would you say by the end of the journey you would plan to stay near your family?
Vassos: Yeah, I will never probably give that up. My kids and my grandchildren are the most important things to me in the world. I still have a living mother, she’s 92; she needs me. I have a living mother-in-law who needs me. She’s 86, so I have responsibilities. And not only that; these are the people I love to be with. They need me; I need them just as much as they need me. I will never leave them. But that’s not to say I won’t leave them for a time. If I find someone that lives not in my hometown or not close, I am perfectly happy getting on a flight and spending a week or two weeks at a time, or maybe having a place where we can be together, someplace different, maybe halfway. I think there’s ways to work this out. I think in the long run, you’re going to want to be together full time. But right now we’re young enough that we’re still living lives where we can’t just up and leave them, and so you have to be conscious that that’s going to be a challenge.

And finally, I have to ask: What’s the secret to playing pickleball elegantly while in a gown?
Vassos: Did it look elegant?

Yes, but it was the most chaotic pickleball match I’ve seen.
Vassos: I was terrified that I was going to get a ball in my head. The high heels were what was a challenge, because if you notice the driveway of the mansion, it’s stone. So it was treacherous being in high heels. I thought, if I break my ankle, the season is going to hell. So I kind of inched my way to the back, so I wasn’t amongst the balls flying at my head as fast as they were coming. And I’m not sure I looked that elegant, but thank you for saying that.

The Golden Bachelorette airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on ABC. Episodes are available to stream the next day on Hulu.