Exclusive Interview
Why ‘Golden Bachelorette’s Joan Vassos & Chock Chapple Are Pausing Wedding Planning
It’s been more than a year since Joan Vassos and Chock Chapple got engaged on The Golden Bachelorette, but they’re still not in any rush to walk down the aisle. In fact, Chapple tells Swooon that the wedding plans are currently on hold right now.
The insurance executive, who is partnering with Inspire® therapy after a personal struggle with obstructive sleep apnea, and his bride-to-be have had fans worried about their relationship due to increased amount of time spent apart in recent months. Is it starting to take a toll on their wedding plans?
No, of course not! Vassos and Chapple’s decision to pause wedding planning simply has to do with their choice to support other family members hitting major milestones first.
“[Joan’s] oldest son was just married about three weeks ago. Joan, the whole time, and I respected this, she goes, ‘I’m not going to compete with my son. This is his and his wife’s time,'” Chapple says. “So that was on a Saturday. The following Friday, her youngest son got engaged.” Now, it’s his time to have his moment.
Plus, as Chapple points out, “Joan and I are up in age. We’re not trying to start a family. We want a family together, but we’re not trying to start a family with kids and all that.”
Scroll down for more from our chat with Chapple, including why he hasn’t seen Vassos in almost a month, his favorite thing about his fiancée, his work with Inspire, and more.
What are you and Joan looking forward to this fall?
Chock Chapple: I want to see her. She’s on a special project. I can’t go into any details about that, but I haven’t seen her for a month, and it could be another two more weeks. We’ve never gone more than two weeks without seeing each other. We talk every day, but it’s tough because she’s a couple of time zones away. I can’t say anything, the audience will just have to wait and see what she’s up to.
Do you have anything planned for when she gets back?
Chapple: The first thing she wants to do, we talked this morning, is she hasn’t seen her grandkids. I get it. She goes, “I’m going to see my grandkids as soon as I can,” she goes, “I’d love for you to come see me.” We had a trip planned to France with some friends of mine, a big group of eight couples, and we had to cancel that because of this special project.
What’s the latest on your plans for an apartment in New York?
Chapple: People ask about the New York apartment all the time. We would have had no time to spend in New York. Economically, this just doesn’t make sense unless we really have time to spend there. We’re hopefully going to spend the month of December in New York and look, but I had no idea we were going to be this busy.
Are there plans to slow down professionally any time soon?
Chapple: Joan and I talk. We are both spenders, and we can’t deny that. I just turned 62, so give me a couple more years. Things are going well there. I got good people that I work with, but I still need to stay involved.
What’s your favorite thing you’ve learned about Joan?
Chapple: She’s got a great soul and a great heart. Most people say that about people, that’s kind of a given if you’re in a relationship. If they didn’t have that, why would you be with them? But what I do like is she’s ultra competitive. I’m a competitive person. We don’t really compete with each other, but she’s trying to improve herself. We’ll talk about ways to do things better. This special project she’s on, there might be some competition in that. She doesn’t back down. She plays fair, but she doesn’t back down. I’m at a point in my life where I don’t need to do everything. I don’t need to be in charge of everything. I’m like, “Joan, just handle it, no problem.” For some reason, in most marriages, it just goes better when that happens.
Tell me about how this partnership with Inspire therapy came about, especially since you received the implant in 2021, before you even entered the “influencer” space.
Chapple: I was having some medical issues, and I’ve had 16 surgeries that required general anesthesia. I’ve got degenerative disc disease, so they completely rebuilt my neck. The first surgeon, the office asked if I had sleep apnea and I said yes. So they required me to go on a mask. I will tell you that different things fit different people. So I did that, went through the surgery, and had another one scheduled. I’m like, I wonder if there’s any other options out there. I was driving in a big city and there was a billboard for Inspire. I go, “I’m going to look into that.”
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In 2021, I went ahead and had the Inspire installed. I had to do it through a pre-surgery on that, some work on my nose. I’ve had three nose operations, as well. I went through it, and I am their biggest fan. Their sales manager in this territory, I’ve referred, to my estimate, 50 to 100 people to him. It’s just a heck of a product. It’s not for everybody, but it really fit me. They’re installing a lot of new products. I think it’s a great fit. It has multiple benefits. I sleep so much better. It’s easy for me because the management people go, “Hey, would you be interested in talking to Inspire.” I go, “Absolutely.” I wholly believe in this product.
How long were you looking for the right solution before you found this?
Chapple: Years. Years. The other thing that I haven’t mentioned is I had some life insurance come up and they told me, since I’m a bigger guy, “You can lose 40 pounds and you can go back on the CPAP.” But I said, “What about Inspire?” Inspire was able to get me, having it installed, I was able to get a lower insurance rate.
With Mel [Owens’] season [of The Golden Bachelor] coming out, the guys and I are going to do a collage of just what we thought of the first show and who our picks are. Dr. Guy [Gansert], who was on the show [with me], the first runner-up, we were roommates together and spent a tremendous amount of time together. He goes, “I didn’t even know you had the Inspire.”
Are you and Guy still close?
Chapple: Absolutely. I would say the only relationships that the guys don’t have with a contestant would be if a contestant said, “I’m going to move on with my life.” But there were 24 of us, now there’s 20 of us on a group text talking all the time. We probably had 20 different texts going back and forth today. We did a reunion back in L.A. We’re going to hopefully go to Chicago and see a Bears game. A good group of guys. That was one of the benefits, to get to know really good people. I’ve been fortunate to know them, to spend time with them.
What did you think of the start of Mel’s season?
Chapple: It was interesting because I think the ladies are going to steal the show. I think that’s what’s going to be so fun to watch. Would I be a good lead? Probably not because I’m a serious guy like Mel, who’s not the most outgoing. So let’s see these ladies just rip it up and have fun. I think that’s going to happen.
The Golden Bachelor, Season 2, Wednesdays, 9/8c, ABC
