Calling all Golden Bachelor fans! Your first-ever Golden Bachelorette lead has finally been revealed…
Joan Vassos, come on down!
Back in February 2024, ABC announced that the highly-anticipated senior spinoff The Golden Bachelorette would premiere this fall, but didn’t name a lead. During ABC’s upfronts presentation on May 14, however, the first leading Golden Gal was finally announced!
In an interview at the 2024 Television Critics Association press tour earlier this year, Bachelor producers told Decider that they were hoping to cast a lead that Bachelor Nation already knew from The Golden Bachelor. Decider named Joan Vassos as one of our top eight picks for a Golden Bachelorette lead, and we’re eager to see Vassos get a second shot at an unconventional late-in-life love story.
Decider reported that The Golden Bachelorette was almost certainly a go back in January after casting calls and applications appeared online, but one question on The Golden Bachelorette application suggested the series didn’t have its leading lady just yet. The final question on The Golden Bachelorette application read, “If you are male, did you watch The Golden Bachelor? If yes, which of the women did you find yourself most attracted to and why. You can list more than one.” As noted in our previous piece, the language sounded as if The Golden Bachelorette team was using answers to inform their lead decision, or they’d already selected a Golden Bachelor alum to be our first Golden Gal and were casting contestants based (at least in part) on which men are interested in her. Either way, Vassos is our Golden Gal.
During the May 14 upfronts presentation, ABC also revealed its 2024 fall schedule, announcing that The Golden Bachelorette will run 90 minutes each week (a bump up from hour-long Golden Bachelor episodes) and premiere Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. ahead of Abbott Elementary.
Now that a Golden Bachelorette is coming, Bachelor producers also told Decider some future iteration of Golden Bachelor in Paradise — a spinoff that would allow Golden Bachelor and Golden Bachelorette singles to meet and mingle — isn’t out of the question.
Amidst dozens of personal questions about everything from vaccination status, net worth, past relationships, and family members to political views, religion, social media presence, and more, The Golden Bachelorette application also noted, “Production is scheduled for this summer. Do you have any conflicts during June-August 2024?”
While we wait for more details on The Golden Bachelorette (and Golden Paradise for that matter), consider rewatching The Golden Bachelor for a Joan refresh.