The Real Reason Joan Vassos Gave Her First Impression Rose to This Golden Bachelorette Contestant

**Warning: Spoilers ahead.

Everything’s coming up roses for this Golden Bachelorette contestant.

During the Sept. 18 premiere, Joan Vassos gave her first impression rose to 62-year-old Keith Gordon. As for what led her to offer him the prized petals? He just seemed to be there for the right reasons.

“I liked all those epic first impressions coming in funky cars and on horses and the things that people did,” Joan told E! News in an exclusive interview. “You usually think the first impression rose has to do with that, but for me, it really didn't. It was more of the way he made me feel.”

To be fair, Keith did have a memorable entrance—forgoing the traditional limo and instead pulling up in a classic station wagon.

“The nostalgia of that old station wagon made me think back to my childhood,” Joan continued. “Actually, we had one that looked remarkably like that car. That’s how we traveled. We didn't have a lot of money, so we would pack up the car and go places as a family. So that automatically gave me a good feeling.”

But it was their talk on the hood of the car that really caused their relationship to bloom.

“We just had a nice, normal conversation, and he just made me feel comfortable immediately,” the 61-year-old added. “And then, honestly, when it was time for us to move on—like I had to greet the next guy—I really didn't want to leave him.”

And when Keith suggested they leave the Bachelor mansion to go have a wine-and-cheese picnic on the beach, Joan thought, "He makes me feel like that's exactly what I would like to do right now. So I felt like he read me really well.”

While they didn’t end up leaving the cocktail party, the pair did manage to squeeze in some more one-on-one time—with them playing cornhole and having a fireside chat.

“When I got to have my conversation inside, he just felt like a big teddy bear,” Joan shared. “He made me feel safe. So it was more about the way he made me feel.”

In fact, the private school administrator revealed in a confessional that she hadn’t felt this way since her husband John Vassos died of pancreatic cancer in 2021.

“I feel like I’m out there kind of floating,” she added, “and he just has this very warm and easy way about him. He is a quick laugh. He’s also very sincere and he just makes me feel comfortable. I’ve become more and more encouraged that this is going to work.”

Apparently, those feelings were mutual.

“Joan is just so easy to talk to,” Keith told the cameras. “She’s just beautiful. It was just fluid. It was easy. It was natural. When I looked into her eyes, when I see how she looks back, I know that I have a special connection with her. There’s something there that maybe we can build on.”

For those wanting to learn more about Keith, he’s a girl dad from San Jose, Calif.

“I get excited about life,” the suitor told viewers. “I’m a sensitive person. I lead with my heart. I love people, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing.”

During the episode, he also opened up about his hope for a second chance at love.

“I’ve been the sole parent for my kids for really the last 12 years,” Keith added. “That’s when we had to separate from my ex-wife. Addiction was in the family. So, I had to try to give my daughters some sort of stability in their life. I’ve given them all this time and effort and love over the years, and that’ll never change. But I think it’s time for me to maybe try to find love and move forward in my life as well with someone.”

As for whether that someone is Joan, fans will have to watch her journey to find out.

"Like every finale in the Bachelor history, everyone’s is kind of unique—mine is also,” she told E!. “And I think I ended up exactly where I'm supposed to be.”

For now, keep reading to see where more Bachelor stars stand.

Status: Split

In November 2022, Greg Grippo (one of Katie Thurston's suitors on The Bachelorette a year prior) joined Victoria Fuller on the season eight finale of Bachelor in Paradise. There, the two announced that they were in a relationship. In April 2024, he revealed the two had called it quits.

Status: Split

Before Victoria Fuller and Greg Grippo went public with their romance on the finale of Bachelor in Paradise's eighth season, she and her costar Johnny DePhillipo ended their engagement.

Status: Divorced

Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist got engaged in November 2023 during the finale of the inaugural Golden Bachelor and tied the knot in a January 2024 televised ceremony.

However, three months after their nuptials, the couple announced that they were breaking up.

“Theresa and I have had a number of heart-to-heart conversations and we've looked closely at our situation, our living situation, so forth," Gerry said during a joint appearance on Good Morning America with Theresa April 2024. “We've come to the conclusion mutually that it's probably time for us to dissolve our marriage." 

They reached a divorce settlement in June 2024, according to court records reviewed by E! News.

Status: Engaged

After courting 32 potential brides, tennis pro Joey Graziadei found his perfect match in project manager Kelsey Anderson. "I can't wait another minute to tell you that I love you," Joey told his final rose recipient, before getting down on one knee during his season's March 2024 finale. "There is something about you. You have this infectious energy that makes me smile. It's a feeling I've never had before."

Imagining his forever with the Louisiana native, he continued, "I have known for a while that I've wanted to have a beautiful life, but I truly didn't know how beautiful that life could be until I met you."

Status: Split

Though underwater welder John Henry Spurlock (one of Charity Lawson's suitors) and nurse Kat Izzo (she competed for Zach Shallcross' heart) didn't connect until midway through season nine of Bachelor in Paradise, they were willing to dive into the deep end. "I'm going to try something a little different," he said while offering up an Ascher cut Neil Lane diamond. "I'm following my heart today. My heart's telling me that you are amazing, you are everything that I'm looking for." 

But days after the finale aired, the duo revealed they no longer saw forever in each other's eyes. "While our paths are taking different directions due to our career goals not aligning," they wrote in a joint Instagram post, "we are grateful for the love and support we’ve received from our family, friends, and Bachelor Nation."

Status: Split

Despite her nerves about a Paradise engagement, an all-dressed-in-white Eliza Isichei (one of Clayton Echard's exes) happily accepted Aaron Bryant's oceanfront proposal. Touched by the software salesman's decision to reach out to her mom for her blessing, she gushed, "I knew I was not in control of what was going to come out of my mouth." 

The finale's coda acknowledged Charity's ex and marketing manager Eliza had hit some bumps after returning from Mexico, and days later they announced they had officially ended their engagement.

"Tricky emotions watching it all unfold," he wrote on Instagram December 2023. "We’re leading our amicable split with nothing but positivity and mutual respect for one another."

Status: Split

Though postpartum nurse Kylee Russell lamented boyfriend Aven Jones' unwillingness to get down on bended knee—a move he was purportedly prepared to make while romancing Bachelorette Rachel Recchia—she ultimately accepted Aven's Paradise proposal to "get out of here and make it work." 

Though that meant her planned engagement gown remained packed, "I just had to do what I felt was right," she said. "Love is all about taking risk."

Two days after their December 2023 finale aired, she announced on her Instagram Stories that their relationship had "dissolved due to multiple infidelities." Aven later issued an apology to Kylee, writing, "I have made major mistakes in the relationship and hurt someone who was very close to me."

Status: Engaged

"I am happy with how this season turns out!" Charity Lawson teased to E! News, a statement that way undersold her August 2023 finale. Dropping to one knee, integrative medicine specialist Dotun Olubeko proclaimed their love to be "perfect," asking the child and family therapist, "Would you do me the honor of turning this fairytale into a reality?"

While their happily ever after awaits—the pair said they're considering a 2025 or 2026 wedding—the Georgia native will first take a spin through the Dancing With the Stars ballroom. "All right, baby," Dotun told Charity on The Bachelorette: After the Final Rose. "So I know you like to cut up, you like to dance and you like to get down. You know that we've talked about this—about how amazing this opportunity would be. And I am so happy to be the one to tell you that you're gonna be on Dancing With the Stars! Baby, let's go!"

Status: Engaged

Zach shall get his happy ending. Despite more than a few Fantasy Suite-related stumbles, Zach Shallcross ended season 27 in March 2023 down on one knee. "I am so in love with you," he told travel nurse Kaity Biggar. "You are my world. The love I feel for you is something I could have never imagined."

In July 2023, the Texas-based duo made an even bigger step in their journey, with Kaity sharing on Instagram, "Officially roommates." They're currently planning their October 2025 vows. 

Status: Split

Ah, Mom and Dad. Though they left BIP season seven hand-in-Neil-Lane-diamond-free-hand, Danielle Maltby, who lost her fiancé to a drug overdose years before she competed on Nick Viall's season, and single dad Michael Allio (he shares 7-year-old son James with his late wife) seemed slated for Bachelor Nation couple goals status.  

But a year after Maltby relocated from Nashville to be with Allio in Ohio, he confirmed they'd split. "We both threw a lot into this relationship and it's really awful when it doesn't work out," Allio said on a September 2023 episode of Jason Tartick's Trading Secrets podcast. "When things don't work out, when you realize that love is there, but you're not necessarily compatible, you mourn the loss, not of just that person and that friend in your life, but also the future that you had envisioned."

Status: Split

"I will love you until the end of time. I will love you until my last breath and I want to start forever with you," Brandon Jones proclaimed while proposing to "best friend" Serene Russell on season seven of Paradise.

Alas, their journey was cut short. Five months after their engagement aired, Brandon (a runner-up on Michelle Young's season) and Serene (who romanced Clayton Echard) announced they had split in a joint May 2023 statement. "We have tried to work privately on our relationship which has been incredibly challenging in the public eye," they wrote on Instagram. "This has been immensely hard to accept and painful, as there is a lot of love between the two of us. We are deeply hurting and can only ask that there be no hate."

Status: Split

Pilot Rachel's engagement to general contractor Tino Franco stalled when he kissed another woman while their 2022 season was still airing. "I do not stand by what I did at all," he said on The Viall Files. "It was not cool. It wasn't fair to Rachel, and it haunts me daily still. It's something I'm ashamed of and certainly wish I could have done it differently like a million times over."

Status: Split

Well, it was certainly a journey. Susie Evans initially rejected Bachelor Clayton Echard's overtures during the 2022 finale only to reunite with him off-camera...and then split once again six months later. 

But the L.A.-based videographer insists their breakup was for the right reasons. "The people around me could see that my sparkle had dulled and I was far from thriving," she wrote in a November 2022 post for her blog "Susie Was Like." She acknowledged they "had joyous moments often, but deep down I was struggling and felt misaligned with the best version of me."

Susie went on to date Bachelor Nation member Justin Glaze, before the couple announced they had also broken up in August 2024. 

Status: Split

Minnesota elementary school teacher Michelle accepted a Neil Lane sparkler from Texas-based sales exec Nayte Olukoya—and a $200,000 check from producers to put toward their future home. But, ultimately, the pair just didn't have the right foundation, announcing their breakup six months after their season's finale aired in December 2021.

Though he said on The Viall Files, "There was lots of ups and downs, lots of arguments, lots of fights and just not really clicking, not really seeing eye-to-eye," Nayte acknowledged that not having that final split conversation in person was "a dick move."

Status: Split

Viewers fully got onboard with Maurissa Gunn and Riley Christian's vision of a future filled with sweet Sunday mornings. But ultimately the BIP season seven duo only got a couple dozen weekends together. 

"We have decided to go our separate ways," patient coordinator Maurissa (who romanced Peter Weber) and attorney Riley (one of Tayshia Adams' suitors) announced in a joint January 2022 statement. "Never did we imagine this, but we've come to a point where we both need to work on ourselves." 

Status: Split

Bachelor Nation's first same-sex couple got engaged on season six of Bachelor in Paradise but announced their 2019 split on Halloween.

"What has always been at the forefront of our relationship is love and care for one another. Our priority is doing what is best for us. With a heavy heart full of love for one another we have decided it is best for us to take a step back from our relationship," they said in a joint statement posted on Instagram. "We ultimately want what is best for us in the long run and for us right now, that means being apart and growing individually."

Status: Engaged

Paradise lost? Not quite. Though Noah Erb and Abigail Heringer broke up in Mexico during the BIP's seventh season, they realized they could see forever in each other's eyes. Initially settling in San Diego, the travel nurse (who competed for Tayshia's heart) and the financial manager (who received Matt James' first impression rose) recently purchased a place in his hometown of Tulsa. 

"About to enter our Chip and Joanna Gaines era because your girl bought her very first house!!!" Abigail wrote on Instagram in July 2023. "Excited to start our next chapter and for all the memories we'll create here!!" Starting with a few wedding plans. Ahead of their move, Noah proposed at a beachfront San Diego home in August 2023. 

Status: Married

Never hurts to have a little practice run. While planning their September 2023 vows, Serena Pitt (a finalist on Matt James' season) and Joe Amabile (the Chicago grocery store owner who found fame after Becca Kufrin sent him home night one in 2018) decided to just do the damn thing at City Hall near their New York City digs, roughly one year after leaving Paradise engaged. 

"JUST MARRIED !!" Serena, now hosting the Bachelor Happy Hour podcast with her husband, captioned the October 2022 video. "We are still having a wedding this September but who doesn't want to get married twice!"

Status: Married

"Mari, I am f--king so in love with you," boy band manager Kenny Braasch said as he slipped that Neil Lane diamond onto Mari Pepin's finger on the 2021 Paradise finale. "And I literally, like, I can't see my life without you." 

So the Maryland beauty queen, who initially charmed Bachelor Matt, moved to Kenny's native Chicago and set about planning their forever. And before she and Kenny (eliminated by Tayshia Adams in week five) wed in a 65-guest oceanfront ceremony in Puerto Rico in November 2023, they made their love permanent, getting inked with matching tattoos during a May 2023 trip to the Bahamas.

Status: Married

Former Bachelorette Becca and Thomas Jacobs (one of Katie Thurston's suitors) got together on Bachelor in Paradise season seven in 2021, broke up on the show, then reconciled after production wrapped.

In May 2022, they announced they were engaged, and that Becca proposed. "I hope that other people can now feel empowered and say it's okay to bend the rules," she told E! News. The real estate agent returned the favor that October. In September 2023, the two welcomed their first child, son Benson. Wrote Becca on Instagram, "No amount of words can begin to capture the amount of love and awe we have over this tiny man."

Though she's awfully fond of her 6-foot-6 guy as well. Weeks after bringing home Benson, the pair wed in a spontaneous Oct. 13 ceremony. 

Status: Split

On The Bachelorette's season 17 finale in 2021, Katie got engaged to Blake Moynes. The pair first declared their love for one another during their overnight date, which involved a paintball excursion, a cowboy tub and a conversation under the stars.

Getting down on one knee, Blake told Katie, "You deserve the world, and I'm excited to support you and be there for you every day moving forward."

Three months after the proposal aired, the couple announced their split. They explained in matching statements, "We are so grateful for the moments we shared together and the entire journey that has unfolded this year, but we ultimately have concluded that we are not compatible as life partners, and it is the most caring choice for both of us to move forward independently."

Status: Dating

In the years since Matt and graphic designer Rachael Kirkconnell left his 2021 season together (then briefly split and eventually reunited), they've faced many a breakup rumor. But, yes, they're still sweet on each other. 

"I think everybody needs to take a break from social media," he exclusively told E! News at a July 18 Baskin-Robbins event. "Our lives are lived so much in front of our phones that when anybody steps out of being on their phone 24/7, people think it's the end of the world."

Marriage remains the end-game for the L.A.-based pair. "I think the good thing about our relationship is we go at our own pace," the First Impressions: Off Screen Conversations With a Bachelor on Race, Family, and Forgiveness author told E! News in 2022. "And you've seen with other couples—they force the engagement and they're not together anymore. So, I think what we got is a working recipe and we're gonna get there."

Status: Split

After stepping in to complete Clare Crawley's 2020 season of The Bachelorette, Tayshia met and fell in love with Zac Clark. Though they left her season engaged, the former Bachelorette lead-turned-co-host later revealed that their relationship had some ups and downs.

"It's hard to be in a new relationship and then kind of go away for a couple of weeks, you know what I mean? And this is me being real and honest," she said on The Ben and Ashley I. Almost Famous podcast in August 2021.

She continued, "I think after that, it was kinda like we need to remember why we were with each other. And I think that that's absolutely normal." In November 2021, E! News confirmed the two had gone their separate ways. 

Status: Split

Clare fell head over heels for Dale Moss during season 16 of The Bachelorette. In fact, the two were engaged by the fourth episode. The surprises didn't stop there as, weeks after Clare's replacement Tayshia nabbed an engagement of her own, Dale took to social media and revealed his love story with the hair dresser was already over.

The pair sparked reconciliation rumors a month later when they were spotted together. Fast forward to July 2021, after several reunions, and Clare and Dale were fully back together—ring and all. But that September, the two called it quits again. Clare is now happily married to Ryan Dawkins and they're expecting their first daughter together. 

Status: Split

After his brief engagement to winner Hannah Ann Sluss and then subsequent split from runner-up Madison Prewett, fans were hopeful that the third time would be the charm for Peter. Alas, his romance with The Bachelor season 24 standout Kelley Flanagan wasn't meant to be, the pilot sharing on New Year's Eve 2020 that their nine-month relationship was grounded. 

"While our relationship was filled with countless beautiful memories, our relationship simply didn't work out in the end," Pete posted to Instagram. "Kelley is someone I will always have a special love for."

The pair attempted to take flight once more in 2022, before revealing this past May that their romance had reached its final destination. 

Status: Split

Following the dramatic 2020 finale, the couple announced on Instagram that they'd no longer be pursuing a relationship. "Madi and I have mutually decided not to pursue our relationship any further," Peter wrote. "Believe me this was not easy for either of us to be ok with, but after a lot of honest conversations, we have agreed that this is what makes most sense for the two of us. The love and respect I have for Madi will continue to endure."

Madi added in her statement, "I will always love and respect him. I am convinced our paths were meant to cross and we are both better because they did."

Status: Split

Peter and Hannah Ann were briefly engaged during season 24 of The Bachelor. Sadly, during part two of the finale, it was revealed that the couple was struggling a month into their exclusive relationship. Specifically, Hannah Ann was blindsided over Peter's lingering feelings for Madison.

"All I've ever asked for, is for someone to give me their whole heart like I'm giving mine to them. And you took away my first engagement," she expressed before giving back her ring. "You took that away from me. 'Cause I trusted you, and that's what you have continued to ask me to do. 'Be patient with me. Have faith in me.'"

Status: Married

They've come a long way since their #vanlife days. Though Dean Unglert (one of Bachelorette Rachel Lindsay's finalists) and Caelynn Miller-Keyes, who romanced Colton Underwood, split during season six of Paradise in 2019, they've been cruising together ever since. 

Engaged in 2022, the former beauty queen wed her Help! We Suck at Being Newlyweds podcat cohost at a camp-themed affair in the Colorado mountains Sept. 23. "I just love him so much," Caelynn gushed to E! News ahead of the vows. "I'm just so excited to be marrying someone who's such a good person, who makes me laugh every single day even if I'm upset. I think our life together is gonna be really fun."

Status: Married

Dylan Barbour and his BIP season six love Hannah Godwin were basically knockin' on heaven's door when they tied the knot in a multi-day French affair. "The wedding was absolutely magical," Hannah exclusively told E! News. "I married my best friend surrounded by our closest family and friends and it meant everything to us. It was a dream come true."

Mostly, the content creator (who fell for Bachelor Colton Underwood before turning up in Mexico in 2019) is excited to officially call the tech entrepreneur (from Hannah Brown's season) her husband. "We obviously are in it for the long haul," she said of building a life in San Diego together. "Our families are super involved and close. A lot of it does feel like we have that marriage type of relationship. Obviously, we want to make memories and seal the deal and everything, but it is one of those things where I feel like we are married in a sense."

Status: Split

Following months of speculation, Bachelor in Paradise duo Chris Bukowski (who kicked off his multi-season Bachelor flirtation on Emily Maynard's season) and Katie Morton (she dated Colton) announced their 2019 breakup in a joint statement.

"We've reached a point in our story where we agree it's best to go our separate ways," they posted to their Instagram accounts that December. "We have chosen to love and respect each other as friends because that's the base of our relationship, and it's what is most natural for us."