Entertainment TV Golden Bachelor's Gerry Turner Says Joan Vassos Will Be 'Phenomenal' After She's Named First Golden Bachelorette "From one golden to another...Relax, breathe and enjoy," Turner wrote in an open letter to Vassos By Esther Kang Esther Kang Esther Kang is a writer at PEOPLE. She has been working at PEOPLE since 2023 and has previously worked for publications like TMZ and TooFab. People Editorial Guidelines Published on May 14, 2024 08:49PM EDT Close From left: Gerry Turner and Joan Vassos. Photo: getty (2) Gerry Turner is passing the torch to Joan Vassos as she embarks on a brand new journey to find love! Shortly after she made history as ABC's first ever Golden Bachelorette, the former Golden Bachelor, 72, sent well wishes to Vassos in an open letter shared to Instagram. "Dear Joan," he wrote. "Congratulations on being named the first ever Golden Bachelorette. You will be phenomenal as the new representative of a generation." "From one golden to another ... Relax, breathe and enjoy," the letter continued and Turner captioned the post, "And, ABC makes History, once again!!!" The Golden Bachelorette Names The Golden Bachelor's Joan Vassos as Lead Theresa Nist's message for Joan Vassos. teresa nist/instagram Turner's now ex and winner of the Golden Bachelor, Theresa Nist, also congratulated Vassos on her new gig. "My dear friend, Joan, I am so excited for you!!" she wrote over a split collage of the two smiling on her Instagram Stories. On Tuesday, May 14, ABC announced that Vassos, 61, will take the lead as the first Golden Bachelorette this fall after appearing on the first season of The Golden Bachelor. Despite being a frontrunner for Turner's heart, the school administrator bowed out during Week 3 to be with her daughter after she gave birth. Vassos planned to return to the show if her daughter was doing better, but "it wasn’t in the cards,” she told TheWrap. Vassos welcomed four children with her husband of 32 years John, who died in January 2021 from pancreatic cancer. Joan Vassos. ABC/Ricky Middlesworth The Most Romantic Things Golden Bachelor's Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist Said About Each Other Before Divorcing The decision to do a female-led version of the senior dating show came after The Golden Bachelor ranked as the No. 1 new unscripted series in its season among adults ages 18-49 according to ABC. The show also marked ABC’s No. 1 unscripted series premiere ever on Hulu. The Golden Bachelor featured 22 women all over the age of 60 looking for love with Turner. In the end, the retired restaurateur proposed to Nist and they got married in a live, televised wedding special on Jan. 4. But the couple called it quits three months later and Turner filed for divorce on April 12 because they couldn’t agree on where to live. Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. The Golden Bachelorette premieres this fall on ABC.