Bachelor Nation has been thriving for 22 years, with 28 seasons of The Bachelor, 21 seasons of The Bachelorette, and the debut season of The Golden Bachelor last September. This September, Hulu kept the excitement coming with the first-ever season of The Golden Bachelorette, starring Joan Vassos.
On the first season of The Golden Bachelor, Jerry Turner, the first ever Golden Bachelor was presented with 22 women, Vassos being one of them. Vassos ended up leaving the show to deal with a family matter back home, but now she is handing out roses with 24 men to choose from. Any season of a Bachelor show comes with drama and frequent heartbreak. Vassos started the season off by telling the heartbreaking story of her previous marriage to John, whom she spent 33 years of her life with before he passed away from pancreatic cancer. However, Vassos is optimistic and excited to find love again.
The season kicks off at the traditional cocktail party where Vassos gets to meet and greet all her suitors. The show moves fast, and in the first episode, five contestants were eliminated. Eliminations occur every episode, which keeps me on my toes every time. The men competing for Vasso’s heart are all very different, representing a wide range of personalities and backgrounds, making it difficult to predict who Vassos will end up with as she shows interest in many guys who are complete opposites. Some men are similar to Vassos in that they are also widowers and they lost their spouses. Others have never connected with someone enough to get married. This can create differences in personalities as some have more experience in the romance department than others. Some contestants had a personality that Vassos was not into. For example, I thought that Vassos and Jack didn’t connect romantically at all, and I was happy when he didn’t receive a rose.
The show is full of surprises. As the episodes continue, more twists and turns unfold. Kelsey Anderson, the winner of The Bachelor season 28, makes a special appearance. She drops off her dad, Mark Anderson, at the season’s premier and introduces him to Vassos, hoping he’ll have as much luck on the show as she did. Another drama-packed episode is the hometown episode. This is when the final four contestants bring Vassos to meet their families. The episode is full of awkward tension, tears, and more. The elimination that followed shocked everyone, including me. I was heartbroken when one of my favorite contestants didn’t receive a rose.
Her journey is full of deeply emotional and genuine moments, offering something truly unique compared to other Bachelor spin-offs. It is easy to cheer on Vassos, as her story is full of emotional and raw moments. It’s also very easy to cheer on the contestants. Bachelor Nation always ends up having “teams”. For example, on season 29 of The Bachelor (the famous season with Joey Graziadei), there was Team Kelsey and Team Daisy. On this season of The Bachelorette, I was Team Gary. The season is full of unpredictable twists, especially the finale. The Golden Bachelorette is a must-watch, especially if you’re a die-hard Bachelor Nation fan like me.