Spilling the tea…

Bachelor Nation saw Joan Vassos and Chock Chapple fall in love and get engaged on the very first season of “The Golden Bachelorette.” 

Now, the newly engaged couple stopped by for an exclusive chat with BachelorNation.com to discuss the moment they knew the other person was the one and what they’ve learned about each other since their proposal.

Check out our conversation with Joan and Chock below.

Bachelor Nation: Hi Joan and Chock, it’s so great to see you! So, since the proposal, what is something that you both have learned about each other off-screen that you didn’t know about before? 

Chock Chapple: Well, there’s really two things. Joan is smart, and I mean she is impressive. There’s not too many people, and I have some very smart friends, that can beat her in a crossword puzzle. And just the life experiences. But she is competitive. I took a little heat on the show for being competitive. I am down here and she is up there! One of the houses we stayed at had a tennis facility attached to it. And we were hitting balls, and I mean she showed no mercy on me, none! If I would approach the net, she’d try to hit me. 

Joan Vassos: With the ball, not the racket! …Yeah, I guess I am maybe a little competitive. And I learned the opposite, like what a nice person he is. He’s such a caregiver and I saw that just time and time again. We talk a lot on the phone, a lot of times a day. And if I had something going on in my life that I was talking to him about, the next thing I know I’m getting a text or a call saying he solved it for me. He’s figured it out, he’s made a call, or “Have you thought about this?” He really cares about my happiness. And even one time we were on a Happy Couple visit and I had to work that day doing some “Bachelor” stuff, and I came back to the house and he met me late afternoon with a glass of wine in the driveway! And he had dinner made and ready to go when I sat down. And he wouldn’t let me clean up! He wouldn’t even let me do the dishes. He’s a caregiver. 

BN: Chock, good job! 

JV: He’s a keeper, isn’t he! 

BN: Absolutely. You both are! Is there something you two learned from your previous relationships that you’re hoping to bring into this one with each other? 

JV: I think I learned to prioritize the relationship. You know, life gets in the way a lot of times and we have to make sure we step back and make sure that we’re giving each other what we need out of the relationship. I remember when I was married, we had four kids, so we were super busy and John ran a business, so our lives were really busy. So every Saturday night without fail, I had a babysitter. I made sure that we got to go out and just have some fun. Usually we had plans with other couples. Some of the greatest memories we made [together] were just going out on a Saturday night and having time away from our kids and just being a couple. 

CC: And I would say, especially when you’re raising kids, you’re so busy… but it’s the two questions. What’s important to you? And what can I do for you? How can I make your day better? And my mother had this saying, if the person isn’t making your life better they’re probably not the right person. 

BN: That’s a great saying and we couldn’t agree more. We would love to know, when was the exact moment you two knew the other person was the one for you? 

CC: It kind of happened over stages, but the big monumental moment was at Disneyland… It was just instant. That we were just together, and it was the start of being a couple. We had conversations, and they actually had to kind of break us up a couple of times because Joan had to do a couple interviews… So that was the moment I was going, I’m really going to like this person. 

JV: And I had the same feeling. I felt like our connection was immediate and strong really quickly. And I think when it was really solidified for me was when his mom passed away and he had to leave to be with the family for a little bit. And he said, “I’m coming back” and I knew he really wanted to, but I didn’t know what he was going to find when he got there and if it would be as easy for him to come back as he had hoped. That’s when I figured… I can’t really do the rest of this journey if he’s not here because he’s always going to be this question mark for me, like this unanswered question of if he was going to be the one and I thought, “I desperately need him to come back.” And when he came around the corner while I was standing out in the driveway and he started walking up, I felt such elation and such relief that I knew this is real.