It’s been over a month that The Golden Bachelorette couple Joan Vassos and Chock Chapple’s engagement has gone public, and just like we saw with Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist on the initial Golden spinoff last year, the public has taken an interest in what’s happening off camera: Are Joan and Chock living together? Are they even a real couple? Will they get married on TV? The duo have been answering those questions, and it sounds like they’re warming to the idea of following in Gerry and Theresa’s footsteps in regards to one big next step — a televised wedding.
At this time last year, Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist’s wedding date had already been set and announced on The Golden Bachelor finale. Joan Vassos and Chock Chapple aren’t moving quite so fast, but after initially wanting to keep their eventual ceremony small, Joan had an interesting reason for possibly changing her mind. She said on the Call It What It Is podcast:
I thought, I just want it to be our family and friends and just be intimate and just us being a couple — finally not a couple that everybody is watching, just us. And then the thought has gone through in my head, now that I’ve seen people’s reactions to the show and how much hope it’s given people, and I feel like leaving them right at the curb — right when they get to see, maybe the real finale is a wedding — is not the right thing to do.
Joan Vassos’ take on it is that they met and fell in love on television, so it wouldn’t be right to deny the public access to what is arguably the most important step in the process. As they discussed with the podcast hosts, a small wedding would be something that’s just for them, while a second Golden Wedding special like Gerry and Theresa’s unhinged nuptials would be for the fans, ABC ratings and whatever compensation they would receive.
Chock Chapple wondered aloud if that was a trade they were willing to make, saying:
I think a little bit of it is giving up control. Because between the two of us, we could throw one hell of a party.
As a longtime fan of The Bachelor franchise, I don’t really care whether or not they follow Gerry and Theresa down the live-televised aisle; I just don’t want them to follow their footsteps to the courthouse! A quick wedding wasn’t ultimately a good idea for the inaugural Golden Bachelor couple, as Gerry and Theresa announced their divorce just three months later.
Distance likely played a part in the split, as they continued to live separately with no plans for either to relocate, although we now know that Gerry Turner also received his cancer diagnosis during those months. Theresa Nist denies the cancer played a role in their decision, and I believe her (particularly because he has said he’s dating again).
In November, Joan Vassos had a similar response to the one above regarding exchanging vows, and she told Decider she wasn’t really looking forward to the stress that comes with planning a wedding. She said:
I think that we are slowly coming to the thought that maybe we would do a televised one. I think our original discussions were something small, just friends and family. And we’re still a little bit away from this, we’re ready to just enjoy being a couple out in public and living like normal people. A wedding takes a lot of planning, so I’m not sure if I’m dying to start that yet. Maybe after the holidays I’ll start thinking about it. It’s a lot to do.
That’s another point for The Golden Wedding: Part 2, because if ABC’s in charge, that takes a lot of the decision-making off of her shoulders! While we wait to see if, when and how Joan Vassos and Chock Chapple make it down the aisle, I’m looking ahead to the 2025 TV schedule, when Grant Ellis will kick off his own journey to find love on The Bachelor. Tune in at 8 p.m. ET Monday, January 27, on ABC and streaming the next day with a Hulu subscription.