Joan Vassos shares what she is looking for in a partner ahead of ‘Golden Bachelorette’

“I’m very picky about a man being a gentleman,” first-ever The Golden Bachelorette, Joan Vassos, says in a new promo. “Somebody with a big heart, somebody who is generous and also somebody who’s humble.”

The video shows Vassos seated at the dining table with her loved ones, including her son, Nick, and daughter, Ally.

She asks her family for advice, including what questions to ask her suitors. Her son responds, “What are your three top priorities in life?”

At the end of the video, Vassos tells her kids that she isn’t planning on replacing their father, who died in 2021.

“I just want our family to be whole again,” she says. “So let’s cheers! Cheers to a great adventure.”

Vassos, who first appeared on Gerry Turner‘s inaugural season of The Golden Bachelor in 2023, spoke during the show about her 32-year marriage to her late husband and connected with Turner over their shared grief from losing their spouses.

In an Instagram post in January, she marked the three-year anniversary of her husband’s death, writing, “Some days it seems like it just happened and I can’t catch my breath, still feeling the shock of it. Other days it feels like he’s been gone a lifetime, those days are worse because I’m afraid the memories are fading. I think that’s what scares me the most.”

“I always knew that the hole he left in the universe when he passed away could never be filled, but I didn’t realize that maybe people might just stop noticing it was there,” she added. “He was the husband that always made me feel safe and cherished.”

The Golden Bachelorette premieres Sept. 18 on ABC.