Joan Vassos also shares her thoughts on what went wrong with Pascal and why she was so happy to see all of her exes at the “Men Tell All” reunion.

If you look up the term “friendly exes” in the dictionary, you might very well see a photo from last night’s party. The Golden Bachelorette meeting, Men say everything.

Not only were the 15 men on stage excited to reunite with Joan Vassos, the woman who rejected them on her Bachelorette “journey,” but she was also excited to talk to them again. “I really enjoyed seeing them last night so I could tell them, ‘I want you to be my friends forever,'” she said. Weekly Entertainment. “These bonds are really big and deep. I’m 61 years old. I have a lot of good friends. I’m not looking for new friends, but there’s no way I can’t have these people in my life now.”.

The day after the filming of MTAJoan joined EW via Zoom to talk about the reunion lovefest, the unexpected breakup with Pascal during Fantasy Suites weekand the boob-related blooper Bachelor Nation didn’t get to see.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Now that you’ve rewatched the season, what are some things that surprised you?

JEANNE VASSOS: Completely, without a doubt, the guys’ interactions with each other. I had the idea that they weren’t really going to be open – that they were going to talk about sports and maybe where they live and their golf game or what they do on their free time. (I) never in a million years would have thought from the first night that they would bond in such a way. It was a completely different interaction than I had ever seen with men. And I’m so excited that that was revealed on this show, because I don’t think it’s an interaction that anyone has ever seen, to be honest.

Was there a conversation that really moved you?

Yes, there was a conversation between Mark and Pascal, with Mark talking about the hummingbird and how he felt like his late wife was giving him permission (to move on). I loved that conversation – they were both crying. And then when Mark left and Pascal said, “I lost my best friend.” It shows you how (deep connections) are formed in such a short time.

Now that you’ve had this experience, what do you wish people had told you about your Golden Bachelorette status before you started filming?

I watched the show for many years, and I saw the younger people doing it, and it was a completely different experience for me. I thought, “Oh, I know what’s going on. I know how to do this.” The emotions I felt were very different from what I thought. I didn’t think it was going to be this emotional. I felt like I was super ready and I was just going to learn about the guys and hang out with them. I didn’t realize at all that these emotions would bubble up inside me.

I think it’s because I really came in thinking, “I’m really ready to do this.” Then when I started having feelings for certain men, I suddenly had this feeling: “I can’t do this. I still love John. How am I supposed to have feelings for the others? I can’t like it.” two people.” It took me a while to get over it. I don’t think anyone could have prepared me for this. But I think now that I know this, I need to prepare the next person.

On the Men say everything reunion, you were able to see Pascal again after his departure during Fantasy Suites week. You mentioned that you realized towards the end of your relationship that things were starting to fall apart – looking back, when did you start to doubt that the relationship would work?

He mentioned to his hometown that he had had heartbreak in some of his relationships and needed to move slowly. I felt like it was a little warning, it meant something to me. So, that was kind of on my mind when I was trying to decide between Jordan and Pascal, which one I was going to invite on an exotic (date). Then, during the rose ceremony, after I gave him a rose, he whispered to me, “My walls are crumbling.” And I was like, okay, we’re making progress. I had a little more hope.

And then on that date (in Tahiti), it didn’t seem good to me. At first it didn’t seem right, but then the Tahitian bonding ceremony was pretty uncomfortable. We continued to be uncomfortable through all of this. I was trying to make things more comfortable, but it was a very intimate and deep (ceremony), and it required us to talk a lot about our feelings.

It was long and it was hot, and I felt like by the end of this date things were going badly. He couldn’t get out of there fast enough. I felt the same way, honestly. It was very wedding-like, and it was uncomfortable. As I arrived at this evening meeting, I imagined how this was going to unfold. I thought this might be our end, that we’d end up in Fantasy Suites and talk about, “Are we okay? What’s holding us back and are we going to overcome it?” And whichever one of us was going to make the decision that night that it wasn’t going to work. He came with a decision already made.

And I appreciate it. I know how hard it is. I had to do a rose ceremony every week and it’s hard to say goodbye to people. This really hurts me. I know he felt really bad and I didn’t want him to do it. I didn’t fall in love with him either. I hadn’t gotten there yet. I knew I had to watch my heart around him. This hurt my feelings a little. Rejection obviously isn’t fun, but I knew what I was getting into and I didn’t want it to come off so badly. So last night it was really important that I could tell him that.

Bachelor Nation loves bloopers. Was there a moment that you were sure was going to do something stupid, but it didn’t?

To be honest, I try to put the embarrassing moments out of my mind. Okay, there’s a really embarrassing one.

Tell me!

Oh my gosh, I was in my hometown with Chock, Kansas, and it was really hot. Honestly, it was about 105 degrees. It was a little windy, but it was hot and humid. I was wearing a summer dress and I had these chicken cutlet things (in my dress), like they were breast pads. I wore them because I’m wearing a summer dress and the bra straps can’t be visible.

It’s probably been three hours since the appointment and I’ve been sweating for hours and hours. Finally, the meeting nears the end and Chock stands in front of the 30 people. We had this ceremony to honor his mother, so there were lots of family and friends there. We’re in front of everyone, and he’s talking about me, about “how much I love this woman and this journey we’ve been on.”

As he speaks, I feel the breast pad come loose. I feel him starting to slip and I try to stop him with my arm, but I can’t. It goes down to my stomach, then it goes down to the bottom of the dress, and there it is near my foot! (Laughter) We are in front of everyone. There is No lucky no one saw it. But I don’t think the cameras caught it, because they certainly would have shown it. So that’s the one I got away with. (Laughter)

Finally, who is your top choice for Golden Bachelor?

It’s so hard. My God. There were some standout things in my mind at the beginning, and then after Tell All last night, I was like, “You’ve got 14 right there.” They all learned a lot and are now truly ready to become the Golden Bachelor. I mean, there are probably seven that stand out, but I feel like I can’t say anyone, because I would hate for anyone to be picked just because I said it .

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

The Golden Bachelorette The finale airs November 13 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.