Joan Vassos Gets Engaged in “The Golden Bachelorette” Finale: Find Out Who Popped the Big Question
Joan Vassos left 'The Golden Bachelorette' with a ring on her finger after the Nov. 13 finale
Joan Vassos left 'The Golden Bachelorette' with a ring on her finger after the Nov. 13 finale
Warning: this story contains spoilers from the Nov. 13 season finale of The Golden Bachelorette.
Joan Vassos found the one!
The Golden Bachelorette’s leading lady left her journey with a ring on her finger in the season finale on Nov. 13. After being faced with “a life-changing decision,” viewers saw Joan say “yes” to Chock’s proposal in Bora Bora.
Related: Golden Bachelorette Finale Live Updates: Joan Is Engaged After Deciding She 'Found Love'
The finale episode left Joan to choose between Chock and Guy, both of whom Joan went into proposals with feeling strongly toward.
But before Guy could meet her family, she went to his hotel room and broke things off.
That left Joan ready to tell Chock she loves him.
When Joan and Chock met on the beach, Chock began by telling Joan how much he loves her.
"I am so absolutely happy to be in your life and that you're in mind," he began. "We've had a magical journey. It's just been absolutely incredible. And you're the most giving, selfless woman I've ever met in my life. "
He told Joan he will honor her late husband by loving her every day. " That is the most important thing to me. And Joan you will never be invisible to me. I'm going to tell you that I love you every day, I promise that. "
He concluded, "I still think I'm in a dream and I'm just going to wake up. But Joan, I love you and I want you to be in my life."
Joan told Chock that a year and a half ago she decided that she needed love back in her life. "From our first date in Disneyland I thought I saw a future with you. And it's the first time I actually pictured a future with anybody else in a really long time," she shared.
When Chock left due to his mother's death she said she was "worried" he wouldn't make it back. "That's when I realized that I couldn't do this journey without you," Joan said. "You made me feel comfortable, you made me feel safe, I felt like we could take care of each other and I knew you would never hurt me. That's when I start picturing our future a little more lividly."
"We are living proof that no matter what life throws at you there's still hope, even at our age. I waited till this moment, in this amazing location, to tell you that I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to wake up next to you in the morning and I want to kiss you when I go to bed at night."
Then Chock got down on one knee and popped the question. "I've been waiting forever to do this," he said. "Joan, will you marry me?"
"Of course I'll marry you," Joan replied.
Chock and Joan have had a special connection since the beginning, with the insurance executive scoring the first one-on-one date of the season. The two initially bonded over the deaths of their significant others — Chock’s fiancé Kathy died five months after being diagnosed with glioblastoma and Joan’s husband of 32 years John died from pancreatic cancer in 2021.
“He’s a gentleman,” Joan said about why she chose Chock as the first date. “He’s kind and I know family is important to him just like it is to me.”
The pair continued to grow a deep connection throughout the season, and when hometowns came along, Chock’s family saw the sparks flying too.
“He had no doubt in his mind that this was the one,” his son Tyler said. “Having him be that confident in who he loves, I love to see that.”
After Chock called it “one of the best days of my life,” Joan agreed.
“There is something real here,” she told him at the end of the day. “I see a future now. Big black hole ... it doesn’t look like a big black hole anymore.”
By the fantasy suites, Chock knew he had big feelings for Joan, telling the host Jesse Palmer, “I’m in love with her.”
When Jesse asked Chock how he saw the show ending, he said, “It’s either going to end up being an engagement, or I’m going to get my heart broken.”
Joan then revealed Chock filled a role in her life that she didn’t expect: “I started feeling unseen when John passed away, and so I think sometimes being seen, you only need one person to see you. Chock makes me feel seen.”
Earlier this month, Joan opened up to PEOPLE about how the show helped her overcome lasting feelings of grief surrounding her late husband. She explained that once she realized she could hold love for more than one person in her heart, she was finally able to move forward.
“I evolved a lot over the season,” she said. “I came in there thinking that I was so ready to find love and then realized that it's a way different journey than I thought it was going to be. But I feel like I grew, and I don't think I ever would be where I am today if I hadn't done this, because it kind of gave me the motivation to get through some of these emotions quickly because I wanted to end up with somebody.”
Joan added that she ended up “exactly where I’m supposed to be.”
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The Golden Bachelorette can be streamed on Hulu.