‘Golden Bachelorette’ Names Joan Vassos as First Senior Leading Lady

“The Golden Bachelor” alum Joan Vassos will be the first-ever “Golden Bachelorette.”

Vassos will helm the debut season of “The Golden Bachelorette,” which is set to premiere this fall on ABC, the network announced during Disney’s Tuesday upfront presentation.

Audiences were first introduced to Vassos during Gerry Turner’s season of “The Golden Bachelor,” which debuted in the fall. However, Vassos’ time on the show was cut short when she exited early to help her daughter, who was suffering from postpartum depression.

The 61-year-old works as a school administrator in Rockland, Maryland, and is a devoted mother of four and grandmother of two. After enduring the heartbreaking loss of her husband after 32 years of marriage, Vassos hopes to find a partner with whom she can spend the rest of her life.

While details regarding further casting for the leading lady’s suitors and the show’s premiere date are unknown at this time, ABC revealed Tuesday that “The Golden Bachelorette” will debut on Wednesdays, rather than the traditional “Bachelor” Monday or Thursday, when the “Golden Bachelor” aired during the fall strike-impacted season.

“The Golden Bachelorette” is also being bumped up to 90-minute episodes — up 30 minutes from the hour-long episodes of “The Golden Bachelor” — that will premiere before new episodes of “Abbott Elementary.”

The official logline for “The Golden Bachelorette” is as follows: “After a historic first season watching Gerry and Theresa find love on ‘The Golden Bachelor,’ this all-new iteration of the hit series will highlight one radiant woman’s second chance at love in her golden years.”

As “The Golden Bachelor” rolled out its inaugural season, fans expressed their support for the 22 women who dated Turner and the showrunners told TheWrap in early November they were “hopeful” about the odds of a spin-off. At the time, co-showrunner Jason Ehrlich noted a female-led outing would be “very different” from the male-led “Golden” season, saying the team hopes they “get the same genuine feeling of reasonable people who are looking for love.”

News of the official greenlight came in February during Disney’s presentation at the Television Critics’ Association winter press tour, though details about the leading lady had been kept under wraps until now.

Additionally, a new season of “The Bachelorette” will debut this summer led by “The Bachelor” alum Jenn Tran.

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