Did Joan Vassos pass away? Golden Bachelorette star accident claim debunked

Unfounded rumors of Joan Vassos’ demise surfaced on social media recently. 

On Tuesday, November 25, the Facebook page Bachelor Obsession posted in the public group about The Golden Bachelorette star’s death. The post claimed that Vassos passed away in an accident during a recent trip. Another page, The Bachelor Gossip, later shared the same image with identical claims. Both posts cited an unverified blog post as their source. 

Later, another similar claim appeared in various posts on the Facebook group The Bachelor Universe Fandom Lab. The rumor suggested that Joan Vassos passed away in an accident during a family trip. The posts corroborated the assertion with another article, also published on the same untrustworthy blog, which had a clickbait title. 

No evidence or news report suggests that Joan Vassos died in a car crash. Neither the reality TV personality’s family nor ABC has issued any statement about her passing. 

While rumors have continued to circulate on social media, the Golden Bachelorette star made an appearance on Fox 5's LION Lunch Hour on Wednesday. 

Valerie Greenberg, who co-hosted the program, shared a picture and a video with Vassos through her Instagram Stories. She captioned the photo: 

“@joan_vassos you’re a delight” 

Joan reposted the picture on one of her Instagram Stories and wrote: 

“Thank you for having me @fox5dc 🫶” 

Unlike the false rumors, the reality TV star’s recent social media activity and appearance on the Fox 5 DC program prove that she is well and alive. 

Another Joan Vassos and Chock Chapple accident rumor surfaced on social media last year

The Golden Bachelorette Season 1 finale premiered in November 2024. In the final episode, Chock Chapple, an Insurance Executive from Wichita, Kansas, won the reality show and proposed to Joan Vassos. However, two weeks later, a rumor surfaced on Facebook, with a claim that the couple had been injured in a crash in New York. 

The claim, which appeared on The Bachelor Fans page, was false, as neither Chock nor Vassos had been involved in an accident. Despite the rumor's inauthenticity, many people believed it to be true. 

“Prayers are with you and yours Amen 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻❤️,” a user wrote. 

“🙏🙏🙏 I hope they get better soon! They got each other. Love you too!,” another user wrote. 

“So sad! Speedy recovery! Prayers 🙏,” one user added. 

A section of users criticized the page for spreading fake news. A user commented: 

“I can't believe anybody believes this garbage. They put on facebook, where's the fact checkers?” 

Another user said:

“Fake news. She posted a video just 15 hours ago” 

One user reacted: 

“Yikes, this must be fake news! Why? Why??” 

Earlier this year, the DC plane crash also sparked concern among the couple’s fans, but Joan Vassos addressed the speculations via Instagram Stories, as she wrote: 

“Just wanted to let everyone know that @chockchapple and I are both safe. Thank you to everyone who messaged and checked in on us.” 

She added: 

“We are absolutely heartbroken over the news of the plane crash, our hearts are with the families and friends of the people on the flight.” 

Chock Chapple also sent his condolences to the families of the victims and asserted that she and Joan were safe.