The Golden Bachelorette alum Jonathan Rone has revealed how he met his new girlfriend Michelle Zimmermann.
Jonathan, 62, introduced Michelle to the world in November 2024 after his breakup with Joan Vassos on The Golden Bachelorette.
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On The Golden Bachelorette: The Men Tell All, Jonathan announced that Joan had “filled a hole” in his heart during filming and he was able to be open and vulnerable again.
Once Jonathan was eliminated from The Golden Bachelorette and returned home to Oakland, IA, the shipping consultant apparently met Michelle on a dating app and they’ve been together for six months now.
“Joan didn’t keep me along for the hometown visits, and so I came back to Iowa with my tail between my legs, so to speak,” Jonathan recalled during the Wednesday, January 22 episode of the “Bachelor Happy Hour: Golden Hour” podcast.
“I started this whole journey looking for love, and so when I came back, I was a little dejected, and so I kind of eventually went back online and I was just swiping and looking and then I came across Michelle’s pictures and she eventually contacted me.”
Jonathan shared how he and Michelle “connected” and their relationship “has been a beautiful thing so far.”
Jonathan gushed about how Michelle’s “first words” to him on the dating app “made my heart warm.”
Jonathan declined to reveal what exactly Michelle had said to him, but he teased that she said something about his eyes.
“She could tell something about my eyes was warm and kind, or something along that line,” Jonathan told the podcast’s co-hosts Kathy Swarts and Susan Noles, adding how they made an eye connection.
“The eyes are a connection to your soul.”
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Jonathan quipped that he had been “stung by a bee” on Bumble and Michelle “definitely” stole his heart.
While Michelle is also from Iowa, she currently lives in California.
“I’m loving California, but man, it’s expensive!” Jonathan said.
When asked if he and Michelle have plans to move to the same city, Jonathan replied, “You’re moving fast, aren’t you?”
Jonathan shared, “I truly am happy. I mean, she’s a wonderful woman. She has a wonderful spirit. She has a playfulness that I think we both connect on and we just have fun with each other. That’s what I love about it.”
When Jonathan hard launched his romance with Michelle late last year, he revealed on Instagram that they “do us really well.”
Jonathan also hinted that his relationship with Michelle may last “forever” in a separate post.
“‘So I Dropped The Bomb’… I started my journey looking for love, a love that is a forever love,” Jonathan wrote alongside a picture of the pair holding hands.
“A love I thought I once had but this was my second chance! So, I went all in with no walls to protect my vulnerability. I had no other intentions than that.”
Jonathan continued: “This journey can be full of expectations but the unexpected happened and ‘The Bomb’ is the second chance I’ve been looking for! I am so grateful for all of the support and kind words from all you in the Bachelor Nation.”
Jonathan concluded his post by writing, “I’m happy to say that Michelle is truly ‘My Bomb.'”
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Joan had sent Jonathan home right before her Final 4 bachelors’ hometown dates.
Jonathan, a father of two, got emotional at The Men Tell All because he said Joan had “validated” him and “made him feel seen.”
Jonathan also shared that Joan “has a wonderful and caring spirit about” her that made him feel “comfortable and safe.”
Joan confessed that she felt “really bad” about hurting Jonathan on The Golden Bachelorette because he’s such a great man and “a very special human being.”
After Joan denied Jonathan a rose, she walked him out and the couple had a difficult goodbye.
Joan told Jonathan that he had made such an imprint on her heart, and she thanked him for being so vulnerable with her.
Jonathan said he was “so grateful” for the experience, but he admitted he was “devastated” once inside the limo. Jonathan had been hoping Joan would want to meet his family and kids.
“But I wish the best for her,” Jonathan said of Joan.
“I came out here because I believed in [getting] a second chance at love, and she did heal my heart. Although this is the end of my journey [with] Joan, maybe my journey is just beginning!”
Joan eventually picked Chock Chapple as her winner, and the couple is still together and engaged.
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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.