Keeping it real. 

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

Since their time on the show, the two have been spending time together in their respective hometowns and traveling the world together.

Last year, a rumor circulated online that the Golden couple had split up and Joan spoke exclusively with BachelorNation.com to reassure they’re still together and clear the air. 

Now, the former Golden Bachelorette is opening up on social media about how she and Chock are really doing after navigating one year of long distance. 

In a video posted on Instagram, she said, “So Chock and I have been together for a little over a year now and I thought maybe I’d give you a little update about where we are now.”

Joan continued and shared, “It’s been a year. We don’t live together and we’re not married yet, but that is all okay and I hope that doesn’t distress you. I am so thankful for all the people that watch the show and are invested in our journey, and I’m hoping you’re not worrying about us because there’s nothing to worry about. He lives in Wichita, he has a business that he has to tend to. I live here in Maryland, I have kids and grandkids here that I want to be with. So right now, we are just having a really good time spending time together. And sometimes it’s not in Wichita and Maryland. In fact, most of the time it isn’t.”

Joan went on, giving an update on their timeline for merging their lives. 

“We are just happy. We love doing this traveling — it seems like the best of both worlds. We get to see each other, we get to do fun things. It’s been a great year,” she said. “It’s a little different, though. It’s not like when young people get together and they’re building a life together. We both already have these really rich lives and we haven’t figured out how we’re going to merge them yet, but we will. It’s probably not going to be in 2026. But right now, we are going to keep living in the moment like we’re doing.”

Joan ended with another note of encouragement on their relationship for her followers. 

She said, “We are a solid couple, we’re not going anywhere, and we’re going to figure out our living situation and our wedding situation one of these days. And you guys will be the first to know. But thank you for investing in our journey, thank you so much for caring that we’re still together. We are, we love each other, it’s been an amazing year, and we’re about to spend our second Valentine’s Day together!”