Joan Vassos has revealed that she was actually sent grim, very explicit pictures after appearing on the Golden Bachelor.
The 61-year-old initially looked for love with Gerry Turner last year, but was forced to leave the series early to look after her daughter – she was later announced as the first ever Golden Bachelorette, and will be deciding between 24 men to spend the rest of her life with.
Despite only being on our screens for a short amount of time, the school administrator clearly made an impression on viewers at home, as she admitted that her DMs were ‘inundated’ by those hoping to date her.
Unpacking the huge response, she told Entertainment Weekly: ‘I had a hard time navigating that process because they’re total strangers.
‘I live in Maryland. Most of those people lived in all different states. I didn’t really respond to those much. Or I would have cute little conversations and say, “Thank you, you’re so flattering,” or whatever.
‘But none of them seemed to be anything that would really work out or that I felt particularly comfortable with. And then some of the DMs were weird.’
Unpacking those ‘weird’ DMs, Joan shared that she received multiple ‘dick pics’ as well as men asking for glimpses of her feet.
‘I got dick pics,’ she continued. ‘And I got people with foot fetishes. They wanted me to send them pictures of my feet and would pay me for it. One person offered to buy all the shoes that I wore on Golden Bachelor.
‘It was scary. My kids were like, “Give me your phone, mom. We’re blocking all this.”’
Hopefully, Joan will have a more fruitful search for the next love of her life when the Golden Bachelorette premieres on September 18, on ABC.
The mom-of-four turned to the iconic dating show after her husband of 32 years, John, died in January, 2021, following a battle with pancreatic cancer.
She left the series earlier than planned to return home to her family, vowing at the time that she would ‘always choose her kids first’.
In May, it was announced that she would be returning to Bachelor Nation as the first ever Golden Bachelorette, with her suitors unveiled this week.
During an appearance on the Bachelor Happy Hour: Golden Hour podcast, she shed light on what kind of man she is looking for.
‘I’m OK with a bald guy,’ she said. ‘My husband, my late husband, was bald, and I thought he was very sexy, so that’s fine.
‘Got to have all your teeth, that’s good. I want somebody who’s fit. I want somebody who takes care of themselves. I want somebody who is active.’
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The Golden Bachelorette premieres on ABC at 8pm ET on September 18, with episodes available to stream on Hulu the following day.
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