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Golden Bachelorette<\/span><\/i><\/a> star<\/span> Joan Vassos<\/b><\/a> says that her late husband, John, would be \u201chappy\u201d for her amid her engagement to <\/span>Chock Chapple<\/b><\/a> during an exclusive interview with Life & Style<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019d be happy I\u2019m living life. I don\u2019t think that he\u2019d want me to mourn him for my whole life,\u201d Joan, 62, tells Life & Style<\/em> about her late husband while promoting her role as an ambassador for PanCAN PurpleStride<\/a>. \u201cJust a few days before he passed away, he said to me, \u2018You need to go out and live a life. You need to find somebody else. We had a happy marriage. You\u2019re a great wife, and I want you to find happiness again.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Joan says it \u201ctook a while to get to that point\u201d and she sometimes thinks she\u2019ll \u201cnever have my old life back and that still makes me sad.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut I know that I need to move on. I had 32 wonderful years with John, and I could have 32 more years with somebody else,\u201d she continues.<\/p>\n Before fans watched Joan get engaged to Chock, 61,<\/span><\/a> during the season 1 finale of<\/span> The Golden Bachelorette<\/span><\/i> in November 2024, she was married to John until <\/span>he died following his battle with pancreatic cancer<\/span><\/a> in 2021. The pair share adult children <\/span>Nicholas, Erica, Allison<\/b> and <\/span>Luke<\/b>.<\/p>\n After rising to fame on the ABC show, Joan is using her newfound fame as an ambassador for PanCAN PurpleStride. The walk to end pancreatic cancer took place on Saturday, April 26, at Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC, as well as in nearly 60 other communities across the nation.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact that I\u2019m doing something positive with this platform \u2026 I got this amazing opportunity to be The Golden Bachelorette, and it gave me this little bit of a platform,\u201d she says before sharing that she believes John would be \u201cproud\u201d of her for \u201cdoing something positive with it other than just doing something that satisfied me and finding another love.\u201d<\/p>\n Joan continues of her fame, \u201cI\u2019m taking that a step farther and maybe using it to do something good.\u201d<\/p>\n While reflecting on what she believes John would tell her today, Joan says, \u201cI know that he would not want anybody to go through the journey that we went through. It\u2019s painful. It\u2019s a painful cancer. The treatment is brutal.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI know that he would never want to think that anybody else would have to go through what we went through and what he went through,\u201d Joan says. \u201cAnd so, I think that he is looking down saying, \u2018Yeah, it\u2019s about time. Let\u2019s make a difference here.\u2019 The fact that we have our whole family and so many of our friends joining us for the walk, I think that he would feel humbled, and he would be very appreciative.\u201d<\/p>\n Joan opened up about John\u2019s passing during her time on The Golden Bachelorette<\/span><\/i>. More recently, she <\/span>reflected on his death<\/span><\/a> when <\/span>she and Chock<\/span><\/a> saw <\/span>Left on Tenth<\/span><\/i> on Broadway in New York City in January.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat a night for @chockchapple and I at our first Broadway show as a couple! @leftontenth was phenomenal and we got to go backstage after to meet the stars: Julianna Margulies, Peter Gallagher, Peter Francis James<\/b> and <\/span>Kate MacCluggage<\/b>!\u201d she captioned <\/span>photos of them backstage<\/span><\/a> at the show with the cast.<\/p>\n After noting that the \u201cstory really hit home\u201d for her, Joan wrote, \u201cToday is the fourth anniversary of John\u2019s passing and these talented actors captured the feelings I had the days and years after that terrible day. It was a beautiful story about allowing yourself to fall in love again after loss in your golden years.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere is always a light in the end and theirs were bright as we all cheered for them as they took their bows!\u201d she concluded. \u201cThank you to the cast and team at Left on Tenth<\/em> for a night we\u2019ll never forget!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n