Golden Bachelorette Joan Vassos said goodbye to Guy Gansert ahead of the final rose ceremony.
“I woke up this morning thinking about the date that I had with Chock [Chapple] yesterday,” Joan, 61, said during a confessional in the Wednesday, November 13, episode. “We really had a connection. And hearing that he loves me and that he wants to spend the rest of his life with me, I realized that I actually found love. It actually happened. I know where my heart is at. And I know what I have to do.”
Instead of introducing Guy, 66, to her family, Joan proceeded to knock on his door and ask him to talk. “So my biggest hope and my biggest fear were kind of that I would have strong feelings for at least one person, and the scary part was that I would have to send somebody home,” she said. “So, I’m here to tell you that my heart belongs to somebody else.”
Joan and Guy embraced while he got visibly emotional. “I felt so good today,” he said. “I fell in love with you. I was ready to let it all out. … This is not what I was expecting at all.”
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Guy emerged as a front-runner after Joan invited him to her Malibu residence for a one-on-one earlier in the season. “He’s kind, smart, handsome guy and there could be a lot here,” Joan said ahead of the cooking date.
As the season unfolded, the pair’s relationship continued to progress with Joan traveling to Guy’s hometown of Lake Tahoe. After Joan met his family, Guy admitted he had “fallen” for her “big time.” He added, “I can envision time together in the future.”
Following their trip to Nevada, Joan and Guy explored their romance in the islands of Tahiti, spending the day portion of their fantasy suite date relaxing on a boat and snorkeling. While reflecting on their connection, Joan gushed that she had “a really fun day” with Guy.
“I am surprised at how easy it was and how much we progressed today,” Joan said in a confessional. “This was just a smolder that has been happening for a while and he’s pretty incredible. He has opened up and been so fully in now. It’s making me feel the same way. He’s certainly as strong as other connections I have now.”
Guy, for his part, admitted he was “very hesitant” and “did not believe” in finding love on the show — but he had a change of heart. “I’m more than hopeful,” he said, adding that Joan “knows how to make [him] feel special.”
While Joan ultimately did not find The One in Guy, she previously teased to Us Weekly that it was a “hard question” to answer whether she can confidently say she found love on the show.
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“The journey ended exactly like it should. I feel like I found a lot of love and there’s all different kinds of love,” Joan told Us. “I feel like every one of these men are gonna be in my life forever. We shared really, really intimate things about our lives and we are bonded. So I think I found a lot of love actually this season.”
The Golden Bachelorette finale continues with the results of Joan’s final rose ceremony with Chock live on ABC. The Bachelor franchise will be back with The Bachelor season 29, which premieres on January 27.