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Bad news, Bachelor Nation: The Golden Bachelor in Paradise may have to wait. On the bright side, the delay in the highly-requested senior Bachelor in Paradise spin-off is a positive one. Why? Well, after The Golden Bachelorette ended, Joan Vassos told Decider that several of her contestants found love connections off-screen, be it with Golden Bachelor alum or women they met out in the real world. We’re not crying, you’re crying!
When Decider spoke with fiancés Joan Vassos and Chock Chapple after The Golden Bachelorette‘s finale, Vassos said that although she was rooting for some version of Golden Bachelor in Paradise ASAP, she thinks that ABC may have a hard time finding enough participants now that so many of her contestants are coupled up.
“I’ve set up a couple of them before the season ended as the guys left the mansion,” Vassos explained. “I made a couple love connections that are in the works right now. But I’ll tell you — what hasn’t really surprised me, but has happened very quickly, was a lot of the men from the show have entered into relationships really quickly, which shows you the power of the show. They hadn’t been in relationships up until this point. Some of them have been single for a really long time. And after being on the show and having these interactions with other men in what they called their ‘free therapy sessions’ every day, they came out ready for love.”
Though Vassos didn’t shout out specific couples, she said, “I think like at least five of them have girlfriends and are matched up,” noting that “the pool of people ready to go on a Golden Bachelor in Paradise season may be smaller than what we were thinking.”
“I don’t know if all these relationships will work out, if these are just new romances and may fizzle out. But right now, if you were going to have a Paradise soon, I think we might have a hard time finding enough participants,” she concluded. So who’s definitely dating? And whose relationships are just rumors?
Earlier in the season, Decider reported on some popular Golden matches that fans wanted to see, including Susan Noles and Jack Lencioni, plus Sandra Mason and Gary Levingston, Tina Turner’s godson. Both pairs were seated together during The Golden Bachelorette‘s live finale event, which could mean nothing or something. It’s worth noting that during the Men Tell All and finale events, Golden alum including the above, plus Edith Aguirre, Christina Kempton, Kathy Swarts, Sylvia Robledo, Charles Ling, Keith Gordon, Dan Roemer, and Michael Stevens all posted photos together, so it’s hard to tell what’s wishful Bachelor Nation thinking and what might be more.
While we wait for more Golden couples to reveal themselves, we do have updates on the romantic endeavors of three of Vassos’ Golden Guys post-show…
Mark Anderson And Barbara Alyn Woods
First up, Kelsey Anderson’s fan-favorite dad Mark and One Tree Hill star Barbara Alyn Woods, who Decider suspected could be dating back in October, less than two weeks after Anderson was eliminated on Vassos’ season. The speculation started when Woods (who played Nathan’s mom Deb Scott on OTH) unexpectedly posted a photo of her, her daughter Natalie Alyn Lind, and the Golden Guy to Instagram. The photo — from a Halloween party — showed her dressed as Cinderella, her daughter dressed as Yoda, and Kelsey’s dad Mark dressed as…wait for it…PRINCE CHARMING! Since then, the two have shared numerous photos and Instagram stories of each other on their respective accounts, with Woods attending The Golden Bachelorette‘s post-finale engagement party, Anderson attending a Tyler Hilton concert with the OTH star, and the two recently going to see a rooftop showing of Notting Hill together. Talk about romance! Needless to stay, we stan so hard.
Jonathan Rone And Michelle Zimmermann
During The Golden Bachelorette‘s first ever Men Tell All event, fan-favorite contestant Jonathan Rone thanked Vassos and his fellow contestants for the positive, life-changing experience before revealing that since his time on the show, he met someone. Following the episode, Rone hard-launched his new girlfriend, Michelle Zimmermann, on Instagram alongside the caption, “WE DO US REALLY WELL.”
“So I Dropped The Bomb… I started my journey looking for love, a love that is a forever love. A love I thought I once had but this was my second chance! So, I went all in with no walls to protect my vulnerability! I had no other intentions than that! This journey can be full of expectations but the unexpected happened and ‘The Bomb’ is the second chance I’ve been looking for!” Rone wrote in another post. “I am so grateful for all the of the support and kind words from all you in the Bachelor Nation! I’m happy to say that Michelle is truly ‘My Bomb❤️’” Again, we stan a unique Golden Bachelorette love story.
Leslie Fhima And Jordan Heller
Photo: ABC/Ricky Middlesworth Finally, rumors around Golden Bachelor runner-up Leslie Fhima and Golden Bachelorette‘s Jordan Heller started to swirl after several photos of the two were posted together on Instagram. While the two may not be officially dating, Fhima did share an interesting update with Ben Higgins and Ashley Iaconetti on the Almost Famous Podcast.
Per BachelorNation.com, Fhima said, “I went on a meet-and-greet with Jordan… Jordan had a suite at the soccer game in L.A. last week… and he invited me!”
“I mean, we have been texting a little bit,” she continued, noting that Heller did catch her eye while she was watching The Golden Bachelorette. “I liked Jordan when I was watching the show. I liked him the best for me. I think all of the guys are great. I’m just saying, if it was me, if I was the Golden Bachelorette and he was on that show, you know how you think. But what’s good for me isn’t gonna be right for Joan or whoever else. I think that’s the beauty of those men. I think they appeal to certain women, and I like that. Hopefully there’ll be some connections.”
Fhima went on to explain, “Jordan, I feel like we have a lot in common. I know that he’s funny. I love funny. He lives in Chicago, I live in Minneapolis. He even has a dog, I have a dog. I mean, stuff like that’s important. And we’re both Jewish, and at the end of the day, that’s important to me as well. It’s not a hard stop… but I mean if you meet someone and they are your faith, that’s just icing on the cake.”
The Golden Bachelor alum noted that she doesn’t know if the relationship is going to go any further than a friendship, but also teased, “We’ll see.” So there’s still some hope! Keep your eyes peeled for more Golden updates while we wait for The Bachelor to premiere in 2025, and be sure to read Decider’s full interview with Joan Vassos and Chock Chapple here.
The Golden Bachelorette is now streaming on Hulu.
