The Golden Bachelorette winner Chock Chapple has revealed what thing about Joan Vassos made him realize she’s The One for him.
When asked to share “the thing” that made him feel smitten with Joan, other than her good looks, Chock replied, “Let’s not even talk about [her beauty],” during a recent episode of the “Bachelor Happy Hour: Golden Hour” podcast.
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“It was her poise and frankly her honesty in those conversations that we had and at Disneyland, where we talked about our significant others and pasts,” Chock told the podcast’s co-hosts Kathy Swarts and Susan Noles.
“It was like I was talking to an old friend, and I went, ‘Wow, I could be in a relationship with this person.’ It was the commonality there.”
Chock also confirmed that he never felt like he was “competing” with Joan’s late husband John Vassos, who passed away at age 59 in January 2021 following a battle with pancreatic cancer.
“One of [John]’s good friends told me, ‘If he was still alive and you guys met each other, you would be very good friends,'” Chock revealed.
“So we were complementary on that, but that ‘ah-ha moment’ happened three or four times.”
Chock went on to share, “But really the hometowns, when Joan came back to Wichita and I introduced her to my family and friends, I go, ‘This is the person that I want.'”
Kathy and Susan pointed out, however, that Joan doesn’t like holding hands or public displays of affection at all.
“I am opening up Joan a little bit, because I do want it,” Chock said, before adding, “I think she’s getting more comfortable with it.”
Joan, who currently resides in Maryland, and Chock just rang in the new year together in Chock’s native Kansas.
Joan and Chock’s engagement aired on The Golden Bachelorette finale on November 13, 2024, and they’ve been going strong as a couple ever since. The couple has gushed to the press about how they’re very compatible.
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Joan previously revealed how she and the insurance executive have multiple international vacations set for 2025.
The pair has also been apartment hunting in New York so they’ll have a convenient location where they can meet up for dates.
Joan repeatedly told the media while The Golden Bachelorette was airing that she didn’t expect, nor did she anticipate, getting engaged at the Final Rose Ceremony.
But when Joan fell in love with Chock, she didn’t hesitate to accept his romantic marriage proposal in Bora Bora.
When asked what caused her change of heart, Joan told Us Weekly late last year that she realized she had been presented with a “unique opportunity” and needed to keep an open mind.
“[I thought to myself], ‘I will have a hard time finding another person.’ I did find out that you could really get to know somebody in that short amount of time,” Joan shared.
Joan also revealed that, if Chock were ready for an engagement, she wanted to leave that decision up to him.
Joan apparently wanted to feel desired and she thought Chock proposing would be the ultimate sign of commitment.
“Chock asked me [in Fantasy Suites], ‘What do you want out of this? Do you want an engagement?'” Joan recalled.
“And I said, ‘I want that to be up to you. I have picked you every single week. I’ve given you a rose, and now it’s your turn to figure out what you want. You’re in the driver’s seat.'”
Chock got down on one knee at the Final Rose Ceremony in Bora Bora after Joan rejected her runner-up bachelor, Guy Gansert, in second place.
While Joan changed her mind about getting engaged on The Golden Bachelorette, she’s still not going to rush into a wedding with Chock.
“You’re absolutely not going to see a TV wedding in three months,” Joan told the magazine late last year, seemingly alluding to the fact The Golden Bachelor couple Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist had wed a few months after their engagement aired on ABC.
Gerry and Theresa got married in January 2024 for a live televised special, but they announced their decision to get a divorce three months later in April. (Their divorce has since been finalized).
“I loved that ending for Gerry and Theresa. The reason we’re not having a wedding in three months has nothing to do with Gerry and Theresa,” Joan insisted.
“I just don’t want to have another thing I have to plan right now. When we come together for a wedding, which could be a TV wedding, might not be, it won’t be in three months.”
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Joan added at the time, “I just don’t want to have another thing to plan right now. We are loving being together, and I want to take the time for us to get to know each other’s families and friends.”
But Joan and Chock revealed on “The Viall Files” in November 2024 that they will probably have a televised wedding, in order to include Bachelor Nation, in late 2025 or early 2026.
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About The Author:
Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.