“Those bonds are really big and deep.
I’m 61 years old.
I have a lot of great friends.
Mark tells Pascal and Jordan about the hummingbird on ‘The Golden Bachelorette’.ABC
JOAN VASSOS:Completely, without a doubt, the guys' interactions with each other.
[I] never in a million years thought from night one they would bond in such a way.
That was a whole different interaction that I’ve never seen with men.
Joan and Pascal at the Tahitian bonding ceremony on ‘The Golden Bachelorette’.ABC
Was there one conversation that really moved you?
I loved that conversation they were both crying.
And then when Mark left and Pascal was like, “I lost my best friend.”
Chock and Joan, and Chock’s extended family, on ‘The Golden Bachelorette’.ABC
It shows you how [deep the connections] form in such a quick time.
I thought, “Oh, I know what’s going on.
I know how to do this.”
The emotions that I felt were way different than what I thought they would be.
I didn’t think it was going to be this emotional.
I didn’t realize at all these emotions inside of me were going to bubble up.
I still love John.
How am I supposed to have feelings for other people?
I can’t love two people.”
It took me a while to get through that.
I don’t think anybody could have ever prepared me for that.
But I think now that I know that, I need to prepare the next person.
On theMen Tell Allreunion, you got to see Pascal again after he left during Fantasy Suites week.
I felt like that was a little bit of a warning, that was telling me something there.
And I was like, okay, we’re making some progress.
I was a little more hopeful.
Then on that date [in Tahiti], it just felt off.
We continued to be uncomfortable through the whole thing.
He couldn’t get out of there fast enough.
I felt the same way, honestly.
It felt very wedding-y, and that was uncomfortable.
Going into that evening date, I pictured the way it was going to actually go down.
What is holding us back and are we going to get past it?"
He came with his mind already made up.
And I appreciate it.
I know how hard that is.
I had to do a rose ceremony every week, and it’s hard saying goodbye to people.
It makes me feel really bad.
I know he felt really bad and I didn’t want him to.
I also hadn’t fallen in love with him.
I hadn’t gotten there yet.
I knew that I needed to be careful with my heart with him.
It hurt my feelings a little bit.
So last night, it was really important that I got to say that to him.
Bachelor Nation loves a blooper.
Was there a moment that you were sure was going to make the bloopers but didn’t?
To be honest, I make a run at push the embarrassing moments out of my mind.
Okay, there is one really embarrassing one.
It was honestly like 105 degrees.
There was a little bit of a breeze, but it was hot and humid.
It’s probably three hours into the date, and I’ve just sweated for hours and hours.
We had done that ceremony to honor his mother, so he had lots of family and friends there.
As he’s talking, I can feel the boob pad coming unstuck.
[Laughs] We’re standing in front of everybody.
There’snochance nobody saw it.
But the cameras, I don’t think caught it, because they definitely would’ve shown it.
So that was the one that I got away with.
[Laughs]
Finally, who’s your top pick for Golden Bachelor?
That’s so hard.
They all learned so much and are really prepared now to be the Golden Bachelor.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
The Golden Bachelorettefinale airs Nov. 13 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
