July 17, 2026 bachelor insider
Joan Vassos Apologizes for Not Responding to Fans While Avoiding ‘Scary’ Comments
Getting candid.
Bachelor Nation fans fell in love with Joan Vassos on the first seasons of “The Golden Bachelor” and “The Golden Bachelorette.”
After finding love with her fiancé Chock Chapple, Joan has been keeping fans updated with her life on social media.
This week, Joan took to Instagram to open up about receiving negative comments on her posts and how they’ve affected her.
In a new video, the Bachelor Nation star told a story about recently discovering a positive comment from someone she used to know on one of her past videos and shared she felt guilty not replying until just now.
“I feel really bad and I kind of want to explain a little bit,” she shared. “I remember when I was originally announced as the Golden Bachelorette, I was sitting next to Lisa Vanderpump of all people, who has a huge career in this reality [TV] world. And she said to me, ‘I’d like to give you a little advice’… She said, ‘Do not go on social media.’ She said, ‘It will make you unhappy.’”
Joan went on and explained that a few months after she went on “Good Morning America” and was asked the hardest part about coming into “reality TV fame.”
“I said, ‘Actually the social media,’” Joan recalled. “It’s been really hard to read people’s comments. Although like 90% of them are kind, the 10% still really hurt.” The former Golden Bachelorette then clarified that her video wasn’t to “call out the bullies,” but to apologize to fans she hasn’t responded to.
“[This is] to apologize to people that have left messages under my videos and I haven’t read the comments,” she confessed. “It’s because I’m kind of avoiding reading bad ones. And I feel bad because I love the community that I’ve created… I’m sorry to those people I have not answered your comments.”
Joan suggested that people should message her via DMs because she tries to reply as much as possible. But she avoids her comments to save her “mental health a little bit” from the bad ones.
“The comment section can be a scary place sometimes,” she added in her caption.
As a reminder, here at Bachelor Nation we don’t tolerate any sort of online bullying or hateful behavior.
We’re sending our love to Joan and we appreciate her vulnerability. We’re continuing to root her on.
