Joan Vassos wanted to return after The Golden Bachelor exit — Here’s why it didn’t work out

Joan Vassos was a frontrunner on The Golden Bachelor when she exited the show.

Joan may have made it to the end and won the final rose and Gerry Turner’s heart if she had not left.

But Joan’s family was more important, so she didn’t hesitate to go home when her daughter needed her.

The timing was the absolute worst, as Joan left the mansion the day after an amazing one-on-one date that had Gerry dancing.

Gerry didn’t want to see her go and even told her how disappointed he was.

But he’s also a parent, so he understood the decision and even told her that he respected her for it.

Joan Vassos reveals that she wanted to come back

Joan Vassos was on hand for The Golden Bachelor Women Tell All, so we finally got more insight into why she went home.

She also revealed that she wanted to return and even planned to do that while speaking to The Wrap during the taping of The Golden Bachelor Women Tell All episode.

“I got home, and my plan was to give [my daughter] some care. I needed to get her some mental health care,” Joan told The Wrap. “I was in the process of doing that, and I was approached and they said, ‘Do you want to come back?’ and I said, ‘Yeah, I’d love to come back, let me see how I’m doing with my daughter.”

It wouldn’t be the first time someone left the mansion only to return. And The Golden Bachelor viewers likely would have welcomed her back with open arms.

“I was going to come back, maybe four or five days after I left,” Joan explained. “And then my daughter wasn’t good again. We just hadn’t made it far enough — I hadn’t gotten her a doctor yet; I had calls in but it just couldn’t unfold quick enough.”

While it was disappointing that Joan didn’t get to come back, she clearly did take something valuable from The Golden Bachelor experience.

“I felt like I found my tribe,” she said. “I found these people that were just like me, and I haven’t had that since my husband had passed away, and leaving them was as hard as it was leaving Gerry, honestly.”

Joan Vassos for Golden Bachelorette

It’s doubtful that it would happen at this point, but when Joan initially left The Golden Bachelor, there were calls to make her the first Golden Bachelorette.

A lot of this had to do with who she is as a person. Joan is beautiful and charming, but she also has many characteristics that make Gerry Turner such a great Golden Bachelor.

We’re pretty sure we know who will be the first Golden Bachelorette, though the show hasn’t been announced officially yet.

But with both Jesse Palmer and Gerry Turner putting their support behind a woman-led spinoff, there’s no doubt that an announcement is coming.

The Golden Bachelor airs on Thursdays at 8/7c on ABC.