Joan Faces a Shocking Self-Elimination During ‘The Golden Bachelorette’ Overnights

A lot went down in the latest episode, “Finale Part 1.”

JOAN VASSOS THE GOLDEN BACHELORETTE – “Finale Part 1” / Disney/Gilles Mingasson

We’re in the final stretch of The Golden Bachelorette now, with lead Joan Vassos down to three men leading into this week’s episode. The 61-year-old Maryland native, who first appeared on the premiere season of The Golden Bachelor, jetted off to the beautiful islands of Tahiti this week ahead of the overnight dates, a.k.a. Fantasy Suites. Now in an exotic, luxurious location, Joan was faced with some difficult decisions, and will potentially break one or two hearts.

As tonight’s episode opened up, Joan was visited by friend and former Golden Bachelor co-star, Nancy Hulkower. Joan gave her pal the rundown of who was left, how she was feeling, and what she was anticipating from overnights. As a refresher, Joan’s final three were Guy Gansert, 66, Pascal Ibgui, 69 and Chock Chapple, 60. When speaking with Nancy, Joan shared her good feelings about all three remaining contestants. But while she confirmed she has no red flags about them, she also seemed very aware of potential conflicts. For example, she said Pascal was guarded.

As for the overnights, Joan decided that she wouldn’t be sleeping with her contestants, but that doesn’t mean she wasn’t ready to be vulnerable. She told Nancy she was looking forward to spending alone time with her suitors without the cameras around.

JOAN VASSOS THE GOLDEN BACHELORETTE – “Finale Part 1” / Disney/Gilles Mingasson

Overnights recap

Guy, an ER doctor from Reno, Nev., got to spend time with Joan first, telling cameras that he could see his romance with the leading lady “go all the way.” During their snorkeling date, the private school administrator said in her voiceover that Guy could be a great partner for her. But is that enough to give him a rose? The pair did go to the Fantasy Suites after spending a great day together which they both seemed excited about.

Chock, an insurance executive from Wichita, Kans., got the second date of the episode, and sparks were undeniably flying. He and Joan opted for an action-packed date, going ATV’ing, and Joan noted that “it’s fun to picture a life with him.” Chock said in his confessional that he wants to spend the rest of his life with Joan, and the pair seemed seriously in love. But Chock needed clarity and used their dinner date to ask the hard questions to figure out where Joan‘s head was at. Meanwhile, Joan wondered if Chock was “too good to be true.”

Joan and Chock made their feelings known during dinner and seemed to be on the exact same page, though they planned to talk more in the Fantasy Suites, which they went to without cameras present.

Last but not least was Pascal, a salon owner from Chicago, Il., who landed the third and final date this week. But before that, he sat down with host Jesse Palmer to have an emotional conversation about his past and why he has a hard time being vulnerable. He admitted he had his walls up with Joan but felt the right person could help him change that. When meeting up with Joan, the pair tried out Tahitian dances and ate local food that looked delicious. They then took part in a traditional Tahitian bonding ceremony, where they had to show vulnerability to one another. But that was very difficult for Pascal.

Pascal went home on The Golden Bachelorette this week

During their dinner date, Pascal admitted to Joan that he got “scared” during the ceremony and told her that he didn’t think he could get to where she wanted him to be. Joan wanted to know, understandably, if he could ever get there, to which Pascal made a shocking reveal, saying he loved her as a friend but wasn’t “in love.”

“I need that spark and I just don’t have it,” Pascal told Joan.

This is when we got the moments teased in the preview for this week, showing Pascal say in his confessional that he’s “not okay” before trying to get the cameras to leave. He ended up going home, and while Joan assured him that she was okay, neither of them believed it. She told the camera that she felt like a “failure” at this point, fearful she could leave the show with no one.

Tonight’s episode of The Golden Bachelorette ended on a cliffhanger, leaving fans desperate to know what’s coming next. If you keep up with spoilers, you probably weren’t surprised by Pascal’s self-elimination as TV leaker Reality Steve shared that reveal last month. If you‘re curious to see who Steve says wins the season, we won‘t tell you in this article, but you can check out his spoiler post here.

The Golden Bachelorette airs every Wednesday night on ABC and streams the next day on Hulu.