Golden Bachelorette Joan Vassos Says She Had a 'No Beds' Rule on the Show: 'Not Doing the Physical Part of It'

Joan Vassos had a hard limit when it came to solo dates on the Golden Bachelorette: No sex.

“It's just who I am,” Vassos told Bachelorette alum Kaitlyn Bristowe on the Tuesday, Oct. 29, episode of her podcast Off the Vine.

“I don't judge anybody else for doing it. What's good for them is fine. But it didn't feel good to me,” Vassos, 61, explained of her decision — a definite departure for the steamy Bachelor franchise. 

The former Golden Bachelor star shared that she decided “I was not gonna have the physical element in it” but added, “I certainly saw the need of having the off-camera time with people.”

How she handled it, she told Bristowe, was “I just said, 'I don't want any beds in the room.' And I said to the men that we're not doing the physical part of it. I’m sorry.” 

Joan Vassos had a "no beds" rule on "The Golden Bachelorette".Disney/Gilles Mingasson
“There's no beds in the room?” Bristowe asked.

“Nope. No beds.” 

“So you're just gonna sleep on the couch?”

“We're leaving before sleeping happens,” Vassos explained, saying that they would instead just sit on the couch talking. 

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“I respect that,” Bristowe said.

Vassos explained that “it's also maybe a little uncomfortable waking up with somebody in the morning that, like, you haven't had that much time with.“

“Sleeping in the bed with them. That all felt a little uncomfortable to me. Also, I like the idea that if I chose somebody at the end, that he wouldn't have to think of me having slept with the other guys.”

(left:) Kaitlyn Bristowe; (right:) Joan Vassos.Jason Davis/WireImage; Disney/Stephanie Augello
Another factor, Vassos said, was her children’s reaction to the idea of fantasy suites, the location for the couple's first night alone and a long-standing Bachelor franchise tradition.

“My kids were mortified of the thought of doing a fantasy suite” Vassos said about her four children, Allison, Nicholas, Erica and Luke, whom she welcomed with her late husband, John Vassos.

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“They even think the name is disgusting. They're like, ‘It’s just gross,' “ Vassos explained. "They're like, ‘Oh my God. That's so gross to even think about that with you ... Then we've all put some thoughts into viewers' heads of what that looks like.” 

“So, not just to respect them, but I didn't feel comfortable having a physical relationship with more than one person.” 

The Golden Bachelorette airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.