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She’s the first Golden Bachelorette, but there was a time when what Joan did for a living didn’t involve giving out golden roses and kissing dozens of men on national television.
Joan Vassos, a 61-year-old Private School Administrator from Rockville, Maryland, is the lead of The Golden Bachelorette Season 1. She was originally a contestant on The Golden Bachelor Season 1 with Gerry Turner, where she self-eliminated in 12th place to care for her daughter, who had a medical emergency.
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Before she became the Golden Bachelorette, Joan was married to her late husband, John Vassos, for 32 years. John died in 2021 at 59 years old from pancreatic cancer. “I did not want to spend my life alone, so I knew that I had to take action, but my heart wasn’t there at all,” Joan told CNN in May 2024 of why she applied to be on The Golden Bachelor. “I was saying to my friend, ‘How in the world do you date now? Look around this restaurant. Everybody here is a couple. Everybody my age is married. All my friends are married.’” Once she got home, Joan saw a casting call for The Golden Bachelor on TV. “I was like, ‘The universe is talking to me,’” Joan said.
Related: Which couples are still together from The Bachelorette?
But what else was Joan’s life like before she became the Golden Bachelorette? Read on for what Joan did for a living before she became a part of Bachelor Nation and whether she still works at her real-life job.
What does Joan do for a living from The Golden Bachelorette?
Joan listed her job on The Golden Bachelor Season 1 as a “Private School Administrator.” According to her Linkedin, Joan works in the Alumni Relations and Annual giving department at Landon School, an independent school for boys in grades three through 12, in Bethesda, Maryland. The school is also ranked as one of the best private schools in the Washington D.C. area. Joan started her job at Landon School in September 2021 and currently works there, according to her Linkedin.
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What were Joan’s other jobs before The Golden Bachelorette?
Along with her job as an administrator for Landon School, Joan also works as a self-employed interior designer for her company, Metropolitan Interiors, which she started in February 2021 in Rockville, Maryland, according to her Linkedin. She also works part-time as a Special Projects Consultant for The Association of Independent Schools of Greater Washington based in Washington D.C. She started her role in March 2015.
Related: All The Bachelorette seasons ranked from worst to best
Where did Joan go to college before The Golden Bachelorette?
Joan graduated from the University of Maryland in College Park with a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science in 1985.
How much did Joan make from The Golden Bachelor?
While the salaries for The Golden Bachelor and Golden Bachelorette contestants haven’t been confirmed, it’s assumed that Joan made the same as The Bachelor and The Bachelorette contestants, which is nothing.
Along with not being paid, Bachelor Nation also pay for their own styling, including their rose ceremony dresses and suits, which is why many contestants leave The Bachelor franchise with significant debt. Many contestants also quit their jobs to be on The Bachelor or The Bachelorette, which can film for as long as three months. “I know that there are women in the past who cashed out their 401(k)s for the show,” TV blogger Dana Weiss told Mic in 2016. “Some have gone into serious credit card debt.”
How much did Joan make from The Golden Bachelorette?
Courtesy of ABC.
Joan’s salary as the lead of The Golden Bachelorette also hasn’t been confirmed, but it’s assumed that she made $100,000 for Season 1, which is the current rate for Bachelors and Bachelorettes, according to Reality Steve.
Season 14 Bachelorette finalist Jason Tartick confirmed in a podcast in May 2021 that he and his cast mates, Colton Underwod and Blake Horstmann, were all offered $100,000 to be the Season 23 Bachelor. Though most recent Bachelors and Bachelorettes make at least $100,000, that wasn’t always the rate. Like most jobs, there are some Bachelors and Bachelorettes who have been able to negotiate more money than other lead, while others made less than the standard. Dean Unglert, a finalist on The Bachelorette season 12, revealed in a past interview that he was offered $75,000 to be the Season 22 Bachelor.
Emily Maynard, who was the Season 8 Bachelorette in 2012, is often cited as one of the highest-paid Bachelors or Bachelorettes, with a pay of $250,000. In Touch reported at the time that Emily, as a result of intense negotiations, was paid more than any other lead of The Bachelor or The Bachelorette at the time.. “The producers have completely changed the format this season in order to meet Emily’s demands,” a source told In Touch at the time. In Touch also reported that Emily was also specific about the type of men she wanted on her season. “She wanted only the best-looking, most mannered guys,” the source said. “She’s whittling it down to a handful of candidates who she will spend a lot more time with. If she doesn’t like a guy, he’s gone.”
Ashley Hebert, who was the Season 7 Bachelorette in 2011, has also had a controversial past around her Bachelorette salary. Us Weekly reported at the time that Ashley made $30,000 for her time as the Bachelorette, which would’ve been $70,000 less than other leads. Reality Steve, however, denied Us Weekly’s reporting and wrote in a blog post at the time that Ashley made around the standard $100,000. “I’m sorry, but Ashley would have to be the worst negotiator in the history of negotiations if she ever accepted that gig for $30k,” he wrote at the time. As one of the first Bachelorettes, Season 2 Bachelorette Meredith Phillips’ salary was far less than the current standard. The Los Angeles Times reporter Amy Kaufman reported in her 2018 book, Bachelor Nation, that Meredith made $10,000 for her time as the Bachelorette in 2004. The pay was about a tenth of what leads make now. In the book, Kaufman wrote that it would be “incredibly rare for someone to make less than six figures” today.
The Golden Bachelorette is available to stream on Hulu.
