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Ever since she was announced as the first Golden Bachelorette, Bachelor Nation members have had one question on their minds: Who does Joan end up with on The Golden Bachelorette Season 1?! Her winner has a history with dating famous women.
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.
Related: Which couples are still together from The Bachelor?
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?
So what happened? While viewers won’t know for sure how Joan’s season ended until The Golden Bachelorette Season 1 finale airs on ABC, there are some details on who Joan ended up with (who almost won her season), courtesy of Reality Steve.
Who does Joan end up with on The Golden Bachelorette?
Joan gave her final rose to Guy Gansert, a 66-year-old ER Doctor from Reno, Nevada, in The Golden Bachelorette Season 1 finale, which he accepted, according to Reality Steve. Joan’s runner-up was Pascal Ibgui, a 69-year-old Salon Owner from Glencoe, Illinois, who self-eliminated in the final two because he wasn’t in love with Joan, according to Reality Steve.
Related: All The Bachelorette winners ranked from best to worst
Does Joan get engaged on The Golden Bachelorette?
Reality Steve couldn’t confirm whether Joan and Guy got engaged at the Final Golden Rose Ceremony. However, if they got engaged, 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.”
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
Are Joan and Guy still together after The Golden Bachelorette?
As of writing, Joan and Guy are still together. However, it wouldn’t be surprising if they didn’t last. Three months after they got married in The Golden Bachelor’s Golden Wedding special, Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist—who got engaged in The Golden Bachelor finale in November 2023—announced they were divorcing.
“Theresa and I have had a number of heart-to-heart conversations and we’ve looked closely at our situation, our living situation and so forth and we’ve kind of come to the conclusion, mutually, that it’s probably time for us to dissolve our marriage,” Gerry said in a joint interview with Theresa on Good Morning America in April 2024. Theresa explained during the interview that she and Gerry chose to divorce because they couldn’t decide on where to live, given their families were in different states. Gerry is from Indiana, while Theresa is from Shrewsbury, New Jersey. “We looked at homes in South Carolina, we considered New Jersey, and we just looked at homes after home,” Theresa said. “But we never got to the point where we made that decision.”
Who’s Guy, Joan’s Golden Bachelorette winner?
Joan’s winner, Guy Gansert, is a 66-year-old ER Doctor from Reno, Nevada. His Instagam handle is @guyggansert. Before his relationship with Joan, Guy was former Nevada Senate member Heidi Gansert, a Republican representative who represents District 15 and Washoe County.
According to his Linkedin, Guy works as a physician with Northern Nevada Emergency Physicians. He was also the Chief of Staff at Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno from 2005 to 2007, and a Medical Director in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the same hospital from 1994 to 2005.
He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Zoology and Animal Biology from University of Nevada, Reno, in 1982. He then earned his Doctor of Medicine from the University of Nevada’s Reno School of Medicine in 1986. He completed his residency program in emergency medicine at the University of Louisville School of Medicine in 1989.
Read Guy’s official Golden Bachelorette Season 1 biography and fun facts below:
Guy is ready to put himself out there for our Golden Bachelorette! The emergency room physician has dedicated nearly 40 years to helping others as a doctor, and he is excited about the opportunity to meet someone to share the rest of his life with. Guy is charismatic, confident and romantic and is looking for a woman who is intelligent and funny. He loves spending time with his four kids and grandchild and wants to prove to the world that older men still have a zest for life. Guy does NOT fit the “grumpy old man” stereotype and knows he has a lot of life left to live. He is a big believer in chivalry and wants to make Joan feel extra special. Guy is a total catch, and we think Joan will have no trouble seeing that!
Fun Facts:
• Guy is planning to hike Mount Kilimanjaro this fall.
• Guy dreams about the Dallas Cowboys winning a Super Bowl.
• Guy is a Beatlemaniac.”
Who’s Pascal, Joan’s Golden Bachelorette runner-up?
Joan’s runner-up, Pascal Ibgui, is a 69-year-old Salon Owner from Glencoe, Illinois, who now lives in Chicago, Illinois. His Instagram handle is @pascalibgui.
Pascal is the owner and president of Pascal pour Elle, a full-service luxury beauty salon with locations in Chicago and Glencoe. The salon, which has been open for more than three decades, offers hairstyling, hair coloring, hair extension, skin care, and smoothing treatments. According to Pascal pour Elle’s website, Pascal was raised in Paris, France, where he became interested in beauty at a young age. “Pascal has established himself as a leader and innovator of style and fashion,” his biography on the website reads. “Raised in Paris, the fashion Mecca of the world. Pascal learned at an early age that one can gain insight about beauty through cultural differences. Immersing himself in the life-long study of defining the continuous evolution of international fashion and style is what allows him to serve as an industry trendsetter.”
Read Pascal’s official Golden Bachelorette Season 1 biography and fun facts below:
“Pascal is ready to say, “Eiffel in love!” This French business owner is looking for his soulmate and cannot wait to meet our Golden Bachelorette. Pascal is a very proud father and grandfather whose family is his pride and joy. When he’s not working, Pascal loves going to the theater, trying new restaurants and going to concerts. He loves the finer things in life and says while he isn’t a great cook, he “makes great reservations!” Pascal is French, so being romantic is in his blood, and he’s hoping to meet a woman who is passionate, full of life and intelligent. Pascal is ready to start the next chapter, and now, he just needs to find the right woman to stand by his side. Oui are rooting for you, Pascal!
Fun Facts:
• Pascal loves taking his grandson to the aquarium.
• Pascal played a lot of tennis back in the day.
• In another life, Pascal would have loved to be a fashion designer.”
The Golden Bachelorette is available to stream on Hulu.
