Joan Vassos and Chock Chapple are taking things slow. After getting engaged on The Golden Bachelorette finale, Joan and Chock are letting their families get to know each other before walking down the aisle, a source exclusively tells Life & Style.
“Joan and Chock don’t seem in any rush to wed,” the insider says. “Joan wants to stay in Maryland and has said that from the get-go, while Chock is in Kansas. They’re shopping for an apartment in NYC, which will be their rendezvous point. They think it’ll be romantic. They want to try this out and want their respective families to get to know each other before they take the next step and they see nothing wrong with that.”
The pair’s decision comes after season 1 Golden Bachelor couple Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist filed for divorce in April, just three months after tying the knot. The exes wasted no time walking down the aisle in a televised wedding after their Golden Bachelor engagement, but Joan, 61, and Chock, 61, are doing things a bit differently.
“They’re hopeful they can work it out and are telling friends not to worry, but others aren’t so sure and hope this relationship doesn’t go down the way of Gerry and Theresa,” the insider admits.
Joan and Chock have been open about how neither of them plan to move from their respective homes in Maryland and Kansas. However, they’ve been on the hunt for a New York City apartment where they can escape to spend alone time together. “It’s just, like, not really a move,” Joan explained to People. “It’s going to be a place for our little honeymoon. It’s going to be a love shack.”
However, Joan was adamant that splitting time between two places wouldn’t be a problem. “I don’t consider it a negative thing. It could be really fun,” she told Us Weekly in October. “When I have something great going on, my person could come be with me, and vice versa. And we’ll spend two or three weeks with each other every month. I know that sounds aspirational, [but] you can make it work. The logistics shouldn’t be what stops you from being together.”
The lovebirds are fresh off their first Thanksgiving as a couple, which they spent with both of their families in Maryland. Joan has four children with her late husband John Vassos, while Chock is a father to two kids with ex-wife Heather.
“I felt a little nervous that we, all of a sudden, were throwing everybody together,” Joan admitted to Us Weekly on December 6. “Holiday times are kind of stressful anyway. And then to introduce, ‘Here’s your new family, here’s your new stepbrothers and sisters, and here’s me in his kids’ life and Chock in my kids’ life,’ could be uncomfortable. But from night one, it went great. We went out to dinner. Our kids left us, they’re like, ‘Yeah, we’re gonna go to the bars afterward,’ and we went home and we left our kids out. We’ve been very lucky. Our kids got along really well.”
