'Golden Bachelorette' Joan Vassos' kids helped her ward off racy DMs, 'scary' requests on social media

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Former ‘Golden Bachelor’ contestants address reports Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist were living separately

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"The Golden Bachelorette" star Joan Vassos revealed that she was "inundated" with direct messages on Instagram after she appeared on "The Golden Bachelor," some of which were very racy.

Last year, the 61-year-old private school administrator competed for the heart of the inaugural Golden Bachelor, Gerry Turner, but she departed the show during week three due to a family emergency. 

During a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Vassos, who will be the franchise's first-ever "Golden Bachelorette" when the show debuts next month, shared that she was flooded with messages from potential suitors after the "Golden Bachelor" episodes featuring her began airing.

"I had a hard time navigating that process because they're total strangers," Vassos said. "I live in Maryland. Most of those people lived in all different states. I didn't really respond to those much. Or I would have cute little conversations and say, 'Thank you, you're so flattering,' or whatever."

"The Golden Bachelorette" star Joan Vassos revealed the racy messages that she received on Instagram. (James Clark/Disney via Getty Images)

She continued, "But none of them seemed to be anything that would really work out or that I felt particularly comfortable with. And then some of the DMs were weird."

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"I got d--k pics," Vassos recalled. "And I got people with foot fetishes. They wanted me to send them pictures of my feet and would pay me for it. One person offered to buy all the shoes that I wore on ‘Golden Bachelor.’ It was scary." 

At that point, Vassos said that her children stepped in to shut down the racy messages that their mother was receiving.

"My kids were like, ‘Give me your phone, mom. We’re blocking all this,'" she told the outlet.

In addition to Vassos, several other "Golden Bachelor" alums shared that they were also on the receiving end of some strange social media interactions.

Vassos' season of "The Golden Bachelorette" will premiere this fall. (Disney/Ramona Rosales)

During an interview with EW in January, April Kirkwood, 65, recalled, "The creepiest one was an old yucky man. And then right after, his wife [messaged me] and said, 'Would you like to do a threesome?' I was shocked. They wanted to go in together with me."

"Golden Bachelor" runner-up Leslie Fhima, 65, told the outlet, "Somebody wanted to be my sugar daddy, and he itemized everything that he would pay for. I’ve been hit on by way more young men than [men] my age."

"My kids were like, ‘Give me your phone, mom. We’re blocking all this.'" 

— Joan Vassos 

Edith Aguirre, 60, shared, "For me, I got so many young men, like in their mid-30s. I'm in shock! They're so young! Maybe I'm going to give it a try, but I have to investigate [them] a little bit more."

Nancy Hulkower, 60, admitted that she was also taken aback by the number of younger men that were interested in dating her.

"I've been contacted," she said. "There's been some younger men who were a lot younger, and that didn't work for me. And [there were] some who were a lot older."

Vassos departed "The Golden Bachelor" in week three due to a family emergency. (Disney/Michael Le Brecht)

However, Hulkower told EW that she was more touched by the potential suitors who reached out to her offline.

"I've had some handwritten letters. People don't do that anymore, and I thought, 'Oh my gosh!' That was very heartfelt," she said. And young girls will [write me] say, 'I want you to meet my uncle. Here's a picture.'"

During the finale episode of "The Golden Bachelor," Turner, 72, proposed to contestant Theresa Nist, 71. The pair tied the knot in a televised wedding in January, but announced their divorce three months later.

ABC announced that Vassos would be the star of "The Golden Bachelorette" in May. She will be handing roses to 24 potential suitors between the ages of 57 to 69.

"The Golden Bachelorette" is set to premiere Sept. 18 on ABC.