Joan gets engaged on ‘Golden Bachelorette.’ Who proposed on the beach?

After 24 senior suitors, Joan Vassos has found her one man on “The Golden Bachelorette.”
More than that, the beautiful widow from Maryland received a fairytale proposal from a bended knee on a breathtaking Bora Bora beach (the luxury Conrad Bora Bora Nui resort) to cap off Wednesday’s finale.
After the heartbreak of the Nov. 6 Fantasy Suites episode, it came down to two men vying for the 61-year-old bachelorette − Guy, 66, an emergency medicine physician from Reno, Nevada, and Chock, 60, an insurance executive from Wichita, Kansas.
“In every ‘Bachelor’ ending, there’s a twist,” Joan told USA TODAY before the finale. “There are tears and emotion. But there are happy tears, too.”
So, who was the lucky guy?
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Of course, it was Chock! Just one syllable, like Joan, or “Duh!”
Joan and Chock, as a couple, have been so obvious for so long. So much so that Guy was toast after Joan and her grown kids met with Chock in Bora Bora.
Before his fateful final meeting with Joan, Guy was happy as a bachelor in paradise, not fazed at all about getting caught in a sudden rainstorm earlier. (That’s totally not a bad sign, he chirps to the mirror.)
But as Joan walks into his room, it’s all tense without pretense. “Can we talk for a little bit?” Joan says, cutting straight to the chase as they sit down. “I’m here to tell you that my heart belongs to somebody else.” Tough move, but well-handled.
Stunned and speechless, Guy cries into Joan’s shoulder, feebly asking if she might change her mind. Nope.
The two walk out into the perfect cinematic rainstorm − and Guy continues to weep in the rain like he’s auditioning for Ryan Gosling’s role in “The Notebook” sequel. Joan throws open her umbrella and walks away.
Chock, a widower who lost his fiancée Cathy to cancer in 2022, sails through meeting with Joan’s four grown kids: Nicholas, Erica, Allison, and Luke.
Chock assures Joan’s son, Nick, that it’s not his intention to replace their father, John, who died from pancreatic cancer in 2021. “I’m just here to make your mom happy,” Chock said earnestly.
It works on Nick, and Chock goes from stranger to getting the marital thumbs up.
Meeting with Joan afterward, Chock unleashes his love and lets her know he’s fixing to propose − all sealed with a barrage of “I love you” declarations.
Joan cries tears of joy but doesn’t say “I love you” back!
Chock is on the rack, even though he must know it’s all about building up some kind of suspense. Joan has to throw Guy overboard first. And in true Bachelor Nation fashion, she’ll try to wring out every ounce of drama to keep us through the commercial breaks.
On his way to his Golden Bachelorette, Chock looks at the Neil Lane engagement ring for Joan on the boat ride. Like an exquisite sea goddess, Joan is waiting at the sand-filled end of the paradise’s open cathedral surrounded by turquoise water.
“I have a question for you. I’ve been waiting forever to do this,” says Chock, getting down on one knee while opening his box of bling. “Joan, will you marry me?”
“Of course, I’ll marry you,” Joan responds giddily.
But first, Joan offers Chock the symbolic gold rose.
“I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you,” she says. “Will you accept this final rose?”
Now it’s his turn to say, “Of course.”
“We’re engaged,” the couple happily tells the camera.
Chock comes packing heat with a handmade emerald-cut diamond platinum ring set with two tapered diamond baguettes. The Neil Lane original came with 56 round brilliant cut diamonds. The approximate total weight of all diamonds is 4 carats.
No one is going to deny that bad bling boy. Longtime Bachelor Nation designer Lane didn’t get his moment of glory on the finale, but he was in the studio audience.
In “After the Rose” of this season of “The Golden Bachelorette,” Joan and Chock reunite. The two reveal they’ve spent some months secluded in Kansas, and now they can finally be out and about together.
Chock keeps his hand on Joan’s knee with her hands on top. They are, as Joan’s mother says, a “nice-looking couple.”
In last year’s “The Golden Bachelor,” Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist announced they would get married immediately in a TV ceremony. But that primetime-reality marriage ended in divorce 100 days later. This time, there is no talk of setting the date, no plans for a reality show wedding, and no drama (Remember what happened in the last season of “The Bachelorette”?).
Host Jesse Palmer didn’t even ask about the couple’s future. Not one question. Will Joan leave her Maryland family to be with Chock, or will Chock leave his family in Wichita? Or can it be neither?
Both families are awarded a trip to Florida’s Disney World, which will have to do.
Joan tells seniors and everyone watching at home to keep hope. “Everybody deserves to have love and give love,” she says. “Take the leap of faith, find your person.”
Guy seems OK during the “After the Final Rose” discussion, working up a white-toothed smile and looking tan (maybe a little too tan, but that might be the look these days).
“I thought I was the guy,” he says ruefully before adding that when it comes to finding love, he knows he “can do it again.”
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