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The Golden Bachelorette Cast
Disney/Ricky Middlesworth.

The first Golden Bachelorette cast is here, and it includes at least one familiar face to Bachelor Nation. There are 24 contestants in The Golden Bachelorette Season 1 cast. The lead of the first Golden Bachelorette season is Joan Vassos, a 61-year-old Private School Administrator from Rockville, Maryland, who went home in Week 3 of The Golden Bachelor with Gerry Turner

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

Joan self-eliminated in Week 3 to be with her daughter, who had a medical emergency. Before The Golden Bachelorette, Joan was married to her husband, John Vassos, for 32 years. John died in 2021 of pancreatic cancer. He was 59 years old. Joan is also a mother of four and a grandmother of two. She was announced as the first Golden Bachelorette in May 2024. 

Related: Which couples are still together from The Bachelor?

In an interview with Rolling Stone before The Golden Bachelorette’s premiere, Joan explained that she felt “extra pressure” as the first Golden Bachelorette. “As if dating on national TV wasn’t enough. I did feel extra pressure, honestly.” she said. “Gerry did a really good job of being open and vulnerable and he encouraged us women to do the same thing. He formed strong connections with people and he fell in love. I witnessed it. They got married like some older people do because they said, ‘We don’t want to waste any time,’ and then it didn’t work out and that is so real life.”

She also revealed her fear that none of the men would be there for her. “I was a little worried that maybe men weren’t going to apply to this,” she said. “I just think about men that age and I’m thinking they’re going to be like, ‘I’ll just go with my friends. I’m fine. I don’t need a woman,’ or, ‘I’m not going to put myself out on this massive national stage to do it.’ So, I wasn’t positive that we were going to have a lot of great applicants.”

Who’s in The Golden Bachelorette cast? 

Notable contestants in Joan’s Golden Bachelorette cast include Gary Levingston, the godson of singer Tina Turner; Guy Gansert, the ex-husband of Nevada Senate member Heidi Gansert; and Mark Anderson, the father of The Bachelor Season 28 winner, Kelsey Anderson, who is engaged to former Bachelor Joey Graziadei. Meet Joan’s entire Golden Bachelorette cast ahead.

Related: Which couples are still together from The Bachelorette?

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