Toledo, it’s official — the golden romance is over. Joan Vassos and Chock Chapple, the couple who captured America’s heart on the first-ever season of ABC’s The Golden Bachelorette, have called off their engagement after two years together.

Vassos announced the split Friday, Nov. 6, 2026, in a post on her Instagram Stories. Chapple shared the same statement on his own Instagram Story.

“Sadly, our journey hasn’t turned out the way we had hoped and we have decided to end our engagement,” the statement read.

Both are 63. Chapple proposed during the season finale — filmed in Bora Bora — which aired in November 2024. It was the show’s only season so far, and in the two years since, the couple held off on walking down the aisle.

Their love story was built on something deeper than roses and sunsets. Vassos, a private school administrator from Rockville, Maryland, is a widow — her husband John died of pancreatic cancer in 2021. Chapple is a widower — his fiancée Kathy died of cancer in 2022. That shared experience of loss was a big part of their connection on the show.

Vassos first appeared as a contestant on The Golden Bachelor, leaving in week 3 due to a family emergency. She was then named the first-ever lead of The Golden Bachelorette in May 2024. The season premiered Sept. 18, 2024, with 24 men competing for her heart.

The split comes just weeks after Golden Bachelor Season 2 stars Mel Owens and Peg Munson also split — a tough stretch for Bachelor Nation’s golden-era romances.

Sources: People, USA Today, and Entertainment Weekly

Photo: Wikimedia Commons