Joan Vassos is confident that one of the men from her season of The Golden Bachelorette would make a great Golden Bachelor lead. Mark Anderson and Charles Ling have become frontrunners to take on the role after their respective Golden Bachelorette eliminations.
“[I’m] pro both of them,” Joan, 61, admitted to Us Weekly at the Men Tell All taping. However, she added that there are “at least five guys” who she thinks would be “really good” as the lead for Golden Bachelor season 2.
“I think I could think of many more that I think would be really good,” she dished. “And I think after people watch [Men Tell All] that they’re going to see the same thing. That there’s a lot of personality and there’s a lot of kindness and really open men that could navigate this journey as well as I did. Or maybe even better because now they’ve kind of done it once.”
One person that’s off the table for the gig is Jonathan Rone, who revealed during Men Tell All that he’s already in a relationship. “I just want to give an update on this journey, that I met someone and the most important thing about that is that I’m happy,” he shared. However, he did not identify his mystery woman or reveal how serious things were.
Meanwhile, Pascal Ibgui – who self-eliminated during fantasy suites week – said he would have some conditions if he were to be the Golden Bachelor. For starters, the 70-year-old would want the age range lowered, admitting, “Yes, I’m old, but I don’t go out with a 72-year-old woman.” He also said he would want a “financial reward” to star on the show, adding, “If I know what kind of commitment and what is involved and if it fits my schedule … yes, why not?”
Pascal ended things with Joan because he didn’t feel a “spark” in their relationship and knew he wasn’t in love with her. After his exit episode aired, he opened up about why he didn’t think the Golden Bachelor franchise would ever work out if it continued in its current format.
“I said from the beginning, if you take a 25 to 30-year-old kid who doesn’t have a pot to pee [in], doesn’t own a car, who are in between jobs, who rent an apartment, who’s looking for an identity, it’s easy to say, ‘Hey, I’m going to move to L.A., I’m going to move to New Orleans, and we’re going to make a living together,’” Pascal said, referring to why the franchise is able to work for younger couples. “But when you are like me – established, I have a business, I have real estate, I have my friends, I have my routine, I have my health club, I have my connections – I ain’t going to move anywhere.”
He suggested narrowing down the contestants on each season to certain major cities instead, using Chicago – where he lives – as an example. “Chicago’s got 13 million people,” Pascal pointed out. “You tell me you can’t find 25 widowed or divorced people in that age group? Because in my age, I want to wake up with somebody. I want to go to bed with somebody. I want to take a walk with somebody. I don’t want to get on a plane to go see somebody every two weeks.”
With Joan living in Maryland and Pascal residing in Illinois, this was likely a factor in why he knew things wouldn’t work out. ABC has not confirmed any casting news for season 2 of The Golden Bachelor.
