Joan Vassos Is a Proud Mom of 4 Kids! Everything to Know About ‘Golden Bachelorette’ Star’s Children

Throughout her time on the Golden Bachelorette and the Golden Bachelor, Joan Vassos has made it clear that her family is her No. 1 priority. The ABC star is the proud mom of four children, all of whom she shared with her late husband, John Vassos, viewers will meet them during the Golden Bachelorette finale on November 13, 2024.

Who Are Joan Vassos’ Kids?

Joan’s four adult children are Nicholas, Erica, Allison and Luke.

Nicholas is the oldest child in the family. He works as a senior manager at American Family Insurance and has been with the company since September 2023, according to his LinkedIn. Before that, he worked at Geico for nearly two years.

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The eldest Vassos son was a high school and college athlete. At his Maryland high school, he excelled on the football, wrestling and rugby teams. He went on to play football at Georgetown University, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and management in 2013. He then obtained his MBA from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland in 2023.

Erica is a third grade teacher in Maryland. Following her graduation from American University with a degree in elementary education and teaching in 2014, Erica began working at The Woods Academy in 2015, per LinkedIn.

Erica married her now-husband, Brent Hiken, in July 2022. The two met after they “crossed paths at a tiki bar” at Seacrets in Ocean City, Maryland, according to their wedding website. Erica and Brent welcomed their first child, a baby girl, in 2023.

While all of Joan’s kids have private social media accounts, Allison appears to be the most off-the-grid. She has owned the Itty Bitty Boutique – a children’s clothing store in Maryland – since 2023. Allison attended Towson University and the University of Maryland Global Campus. She married her husband Noah Joseph in 2019 and has two sons.

Since graduating from Marquette University with a degree in corporate communications in 2019, Luke has worked at Okta, an IT company. He has worked his way up the ladder in the company and is currently a corporate account executive. Like his older brother, Luke was a college athlete and played for the lacrosse team at Marquette.

Joan Vassos Left ‘The Golden Bachelor’ for Her Daughter Erica

When Joan was on The Golden Bachelor in 2023, she had to leave the show early to tend to a family matter at home. “I got a text this morning, and I think I need to go home and be a mom right now,” she told lead Gerry Turner. “So as much as I don’t want to leave — and I don’t want to leave our journey — I got to be a parent.”

Although she didn’t specify what was happening at home at the time, she later shared more information during the Women Tell All special. Joan revealed that her daughter – Erica – was struggling with postpartum depression after giving birth to her first child just two weeks before Joan left to film the dating show.

“She needed me,” Joan explained “She needed her mom. And I didn’t think twice. I knew I had to be there. I heard it in her voice.”

In a subsequent interview with The Wrap, Joan added, “I got home, and my plan was to give [my daughter] some care — I needed to get her some mental health care. I was in the process of doing that, and I was approached [by producers], and they said, ‘Do you want to come back?’ and I said, ‘Yeah, I’d love to come back, let me see how I’m doing with my daughter.’” Although Joan was booked on a flight to return to the show less than one week after her departure, she decided to stay home because her “daughter wasn’t doing good again.”

After Joan’s exit episode aired, she took to Instagram to assure fans that “everyone at home is doing great” now.

Who Was Joan Vassos’ Husband?

Joan’s husband, John, died in 2021 from pancreatic cancer. “When John and I first fell in love, it was all about family,” Joan said on the Golden Bachelorette. “We had a joyous, loving household with a lot of people in it, filled with love. When you walked into a room, John made you feel like you were the only person in it. He just had this knack. He made life fun. He made me feel very visible every day.”

The two were married for nearly 33 years at the time of John’s death. While speaking about her late husband, Joan often reflects on what a great husband and father he was.

“To say he was proud of his kids would be a massive understatement,” John’s obituary said. “They will carry on his legacy of generosity, his passion for life, and his love of family and friends.” In his football bio on Georgetown’s website, Nicholas listed his father as the “most influential person in his athletic career.” John was a youth football coach and was enthusiastic about his kids’ sporting events.

Joan Vassos' Kids on 'The Golden Bachelorette' Finale

“I think they’re ready for it. They’re looking forward to it," Joan told Us Weekly of her children at the show’s Men Tell All episode taping which aired in November 2024 but was filmed in October. "It’s a lot, being the kid that has a parent on TV. I feel for kids who do it, this is their life.”

“They also were worried that I was going to embarrass them,” she added, admitting that her kids were going to feel relieved once the show finished airing. “So, I think they’re kind of ready to not have to have that worry every day.”

“When they watch a show, one of my daughters critiques it every week and tells me how many men I kissed,” Joan shared. “[She] calls me in the morning, tells me how many I kissed, and how much she embarrassed me and how much I embarrassed her. So, I think that they’re ready to maybe have their life back to normal a little bit.”

In a preview for the finale, Joan's daughter Allison and her husband Noah, as well as son Nick and his fiancée, Brooke, arrived in Bora Bora to meet their mom's finalists.

Joan said in a confessional, “I’m dying to tell them where I am in this journey."