Does Joan Get Engaged on The Golden Bachelorette? She Says…

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The Golden Bachelorette Season 1 spoilers ahead: Of the 50-plus Bachelor, Bachelorette, and Bachelor in Paradise seasons that have aired on ABC, almost all of them have ended in an engagement—including the first season of The Golden Bachelor with Joan’s ex, Gerry Turner, and his now-ex-wife, Theresa Nist. Given the franchise’s history, it’s no wonder why fans want to know whether Joan got engaged on The Golden Bachelorette too or if she was one of the few leads to break in tradition.

Related: All The Golden Bachelorette spoilers including Joan’s winner

Joan Vassos, a 61-year-old Private School Administrator from Rockville, Maryland, is the lead of the first-ever season of The Golden Bachelorette. She was originally a contestant on The Golden Bachelor Season 1 with Gerry Turner, where she self-eliminated in 12th place to care for her daughter after she had a medical emergency. 

Before she became the Golden Bachelorette, Joan was married to her late husband, John Vassos, for 32 years. John died in 2021 at 59 years old from pancreatic cancer. “I did not want to spend my life alone, so I knew that I had to take action, but my heart wasn’t there at all,” Joan told CNN in May 2024 of why she applied to be on The Golden Bachelor. “I was saying to my friend, ‘How in the world do you date now? Look around this restaurant. Everybody here is a couple. Everybody my age is married. All my friends are married.’” Once she got home, Joan saw a casting call for The Golden Bachelor on TV. “I was like, ‘The universe is talking to me,’” Joan said.

Related: Which couples are still together from The Bachelorette?

Does Joan get engaged on The Golden Bachelorette? 

Joan’s winner was Chock Chapple, a 60-year-old Insurance Executive from Wichita, Kansas, whom she gave her final rose to in The Golden Bachelorette Season 1 finale. Reality Steve couldn’t confirm whether Joan and Chock got engaged at the Final Golden Rose Ceremony, however, Joan hinted in an interview with People in September 2024 that getting engaged wasn’t important to her on The Golden Bachelorette, so it’s possible she ended her season without a ring.

Related: All The Bachelorette winners ranked from best to worst

“I said all along I didn’t need to leave engaged,” Joan said. “My goal was to leave in a committed relationship. I wanted to have somebody I saw a future with and that we wanted to see how it works in the real world outside of the Bachelor bubble. I didn’t want to go through all of this and be at the same place I was when I came to the mansion.”

Related: Meet The Golden Bachelorette cast

If Joan and Chock got engaged, however, it’s almost certain the ring was designed by Neil Lane, a celebrity jeweler, who has created engagement rings for The Bachelor, The Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise since 2008. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly in 2016, former Chris Harrison revealed that couples from The Bachelor franchise must stay together for a set amount of time or else they must return their free engagement ring back to Neil Lane. “There’s some rule, after a certain number of years, you get to keep it anyway,” he said. “But after months… it goes back.”

Related: Which couples are still together from The Bachelor?

Lane also told StyleCaster in 2016 that he doesn’t know what happens to the rings after couples break up, but that he designs them with the hope that the couple stays together. “I make rings hoping that people stay together forever, but after they get the ring, I don’t have a say in it, and what happens after that, I don’t know,” he said. “Where the ring goes, I have to say, I don’t really know. I just say it goes to ring heaven.”

Related: All The Bachelorette seasons ranked from worst to best

Who’s Chock, Joan’s Golden Bachelorette winner?

Joan’s winner, Charles “Chock” Chapple, is a 60-year-old Insurance Executive from Wichita, Kansas. His Instagram handle is @chockchapple.

According to his Linkedin, Chock is the president of Insurance Services Group, a full-service insurance agency that offers business, personal, health, and safety services, based in Wichita, Kansas. He’s held the role since 2020. Before his current career, Chock was the owner of the company CIG Insurance from 2004 to 2020. “I’m originally from a small town in Garden Plain, Kansas and has spent the last 30 years in Wichita,” his Linkedin biography reads. “I attended Kansas State University and graduated with degrees in both Labor Relations and General Business Administration. My grandfather and father were insurance pros dating back to the 1920’s.”

Read Chock’s official Golden Bachelorette Season 1 biography and fun facts below:

“Chock is quite the catch! He’s kind, loves adventure, and has had a successful career owning his own business. Chock has a very full life with his kids, his adorable black Lab Super Tubbs, and his work, but he knows he’s missing the one thing he wants most — love. Chock truly believes love can be found at any age and is enthusiastic about finding that spark again. He’s hoping this is his moment to meet the adventurous, compassionate woman he’s been looking for. When Chock isn’t working or spending time with his kids, he loves exercising and rooting for the Kansas City Chiefs. His guilty pleasure is shopping, and he can’t resist a good sale! Chock is totally a relationship guy, so let’s see if Joan is the long-term love he’s been dreaming of.

Fun Facts:
• Chock is a self-proclaimed grill master.
• Chock once went nighttime shark diving in Australia
• Chock hopes that Chevy Camaros with T-tops make a comeback.”

The Golden Bachelorette is available to stream on Hulu.