The Golden Bachelorette star Joan Vassos has opened up about the current status of her relationship with Chock Chapple after navigating one year of long distance.
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Joan, who resides in Maryland, and Chock, who continues to work in Kansas, got engaged on The Golden Bachelorette's Season 1 finale that aired on ABC in November 2024.
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And, according to Joan, her relationship with Chock is going to stand the test of time.
Joan took to Instagram on January 27 with a video answering the one question that's been on fans' minds lately -- "How are you and Chock?"
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Joan shared in the video: "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."
Before diving into the latest details, Joan recalled having so many thoughts racing through her mind on the day of her Final Rose Ceremony on The Golden Bachelorette.
"I remember the day we got engaged... thought, 'I really want to do this right.' I didn't know if Chock was going to propose to me, but I thought he might," Joan admitted.
"And I was nervous. I wanted to do what was right for the show, which was get engaged, but I also wanted to do what was right for us."
Although the pair had only been on a few dates together by that point, Joan said she felt like she was "in love" with Chock.
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"But I didn't really know him that well. I know he felt the same way, that it was a leap of faith. And we both decided to take it, and it was the best thing I could've done," she gushed.
"Being brave sometimes is scary, but I think the best things sometimes come of it, and it did for us."
Joan continued, "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."
The Golden Bachelor alum expressed how she's "so thankful" for all the people who watch the show and "are invested" in their 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," Joan noted.
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"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 welcomed four kids with her late husband John Vassos, who passed away after a battle with pancreatic cancer in 2021. Chock, for his part, shares two children with his ex-wife Heather).
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Joan explained how she and Chock are essentially on a constant vacation together.
"We spent a lot of time in New York. In fact, we just spent a whole month there. We spent time in L.A. and San Francisco... We are just happy. We love doing this traveling -- it seems like the best of both worlds," she said.
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"We get to see each other, we get to do fun things. It's been a great year."
While many The Bachelor and The Bachelorette couples from a younger generation struggle to make long distance work, Joan explained why her arrangement with Chock "is a little different."
"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," she acknowledged.
"It's probably not going to be in 2026. But right now, we are just going to keep living in the moment, like we're doing."
Joan assured her followers that she and Chock are still "a solid couple," adding, "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."
Joan concluded her message by thanking fans for being a part of their 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!" she concluded.
Joan sparked split rumors in November when she had posted a cryptic video on Instagram expressing her gratitude for all of the people in her life, except she didn't name Chock specifically.
"I was thinking about life a little bit and about how thankful I am. I was thinking that life doesn't really turn out the way you expected. In fact, it probably never turns out the way you expected, and mine certainly didn't," Joan said in the video.
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Joan pointed out how "no one is responsible for making you happy but yourself."
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But Joan insisted the breakup rumors were "all untrue" in December.
"I got so much crap. Everybody was like, 'They broke up. They broke up.' I didn't mention his name. I'm sorry! I didn't think I had to," Joan explained on "The Ben & Ashley I: Almost Famous" podcast, adding, "I'm still with Chock. We didn't break up."
In September 2025, Joan discussed how she'll never secretly marry Chock because fans "deserve" to see how their relationship progresses during an appearance on Kyle Ridley's "The Tangle" podcast.
Joan also suggested she'd be open to televising her wedding, although the opportunity hadn't been offered to her at the time.
"We are in a good place. We don't need to have a marriage certificate to say that we're in a good place. But one day, we'll have a wedding," Joan insisted.
Joan previously threw shade at The Golden Bachelor's Season 1 couple Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist for tying the knot in January 2024, just a few months after their marriage proposal aired on ABC, and then filing for divorce in April 2024.
During a January episode of the "Two Jersey Js" podcast, Joan said, "I think that we all kind of maybe learned a lesson from Gerry and Theresa that maybe that was too quick and they probably don't want to make that mistake again."
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