The Golden Bachelorette star Joan Vassos has asked critics to back off because she's proudly and unapologetically taking her relationship with Chock Chapple at her own pace.

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"I want to say, like, 'Let us be together! Let's just have fun and date!' We will get married, I just don't know when," Joan told Us Weekly in a recent interview.

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Joan and Chock got engaged in Summer 2024 and their engagement aired on The Golden Bachelorette finale in November 2024.

Because Joan and Chock's relationship is thriving, fans are wondering when the blonde beauty will walk down the aisle.

"There's lots of very successful Bachelor couples out there. Just because they don't all succeed doesn't mean it's not possible and that people aren't there for the right reasons," Joan shared with the magazine.

"I was just in Punta Cana with [Charity Lawson] and [Dotun Olubeko]. They haven't gotten married yet. They hear about it all the time."

Joan pointed out how she and Chock are in a similar position with their fans, constantly fielding questions and concerns about when they're going to tie the knot.

"It's important that people recognize that it's a very weird journey that you go on when you do The Bachelor," Joan explained.

"You take a leap of faith right at the end, like, 'I think this is my person. I'm not positive, I have not lived with them in the outside world. I haven't seen how they treat waiters and waitresses or service personnel. I haven't seen how they interact with my family or how they get along with my friends.'"

Joan added, "So you're taking a leap of faith and then you go out and you start dating them and that dating takes a little bit of time. Chock and I are in that part of it."

The first The Golden Bachelor star Gerry Turner, however, didn't take his time with his winner Theresa Nist.

Gerry and Theresa got married in January 2024, just a few months after their marriage proposal aired on ABC, and then he filed for divorce in April 2024. (The pair's divorce was finalized in June 2024).

Joan said of getting to know Chock post-show, "It's been great every second of it, and it's, maybe, solidified our relationship more and more and made that leap of faith seem like we absolutely did the right thing."

"We will get married," she assured fans, "but we are not ready to plan a wedding out."

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Joan explained how she and Chock are in the process of meeting each other's friends.

"We're spending time getting to know each other even more. There's no rush. I don't have a biological clock. I'm over that. I have four kids. It does [add] to the whole element of it," Joan said.

"We're not dying to build a house together. We both have homes. We have all those things that we're not worried about doing. We're just having fun being together."

Joan, who lives in Maryland near her family, also confirmed that she's in no rush to live with Chock, who still runs a business in Kansas.

Joan noted how she and Chock are still in a "crazy" and "unexpected" whirlwind after falling in love on The Golden Bachelorette.

"We both thought when we came off the show, we'd just live a life as a couple. We didn't realize that the opportunities would continue, which has been such a blessing," Joan gushed.

"We have lived a little bit of a jet-set life and we don't have to plan all of our meetings. When we don't have anything to do for a TV or radio or podcast or whatever, we do have to figure out when we're going to get together."

Joan elaborated, "But we have so many of those weaved into him coming to Maryland or me going to Kansas that we actually haven't spent a lot of times at either one of each other's homes, which is exactly what we thought we would be doing."

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However, Joan admitted that she and Chock feel like they still "owe" The Bachelor something at the end of the day.

"Because I want people to actually see that this was successful and that you can find love later in life and you can actually find love on a show. Lots of us do," Joan said.

Joan apparently wants to inspire people in their golden years to look for love and never give up on finding happiness.

"People dating at an older age, I don't think they realize how much fun it can be," Joan said.

"For the first time in your life, you have time and you have resources. You have money! When you're younger, you're spending money on your kids, you're building a life, you're buying a house, you're doing all these things that cost a lot of money."

Joan said she and Chock are luckily "through all that" and can enjoy the fruits of their labor.

"You're not sending your kids to college anymore. They've already graduated. You finally have time and resources and, if you have your health, this is a darn fun, good time of life," Joan told the magazine.

"All you people getting older and worried about your 60s, it could be the best time of your life."

Chock said earlier this year via Instagram Stories that he could envision marrying Joan in late 2025 or 2026.

Prior to meeting Chock, Joan -- who failed to find love with Gerry on The Golden Bachelor -- was married to her late husband, John Vassos, for 32 years. Joan and John welcomed four children together, and then he passed away after a battle with pancreatic cancer in 2021.

RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)

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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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