Exclusive: Happily Ever After: Joan & Chock — Part 1

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Speaker 1: Hey, everyone, welcome back to bat You're Happy Hour.

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Speaker 2: I'm Joe and I'm Serena.

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Speaker 1: And we are here finally with the lovely couple from the Golden Bachelorette. Joan and Chock are both with us today. Welcome guys.

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Speaker 3: Oh, how are you hi on this podcast?

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Speaker 1: Nice to have you. How's everybody? How you guys feeling? How are we feeling today? Feeling good?

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Speaker 3: Oh? So good? Finally like we're real people out in the world.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, very happy. Just it's been a long time coming, but we are here.

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Speaker 2: I know it probably feels like forever.

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Speaker 5: I feel like this is always the most exciting time when it's all said and done and you can be out in the world together and proudly show each other off. How hard is it to keep this a secret the past few months?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, that's hard. You know, our families know, so that's been fun. So they've kind of gotten to know each other. But you know, most of our friends other than like a you know, the few that you trust. Oh yeah, here's my ring.

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Speaker 2: I just got there.

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Speaker 4: We go.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's gorgeous.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, it's been hard, but you know what, there is a little element that I was as I was getting in my car to come back to la yesterday morning, Like there was a part of me I thought, you know, I actually love living in this kind of bubble right now because it just is so pure. It's just the two of us. There's no outside noise, and you know, you know how people can be, you know, they could be critical of our relationship, and I just love like feeling that I don't have to worry about that and we just get to be us and happy.

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Speaker 1: Joan, how do you feel? We'll start with you? How do you feel now that your journey is complete? I mean, we've seen a ton of emotions from you. We know you know it can't be easy, especially at the end. There's multiple guys there, you have strong feelings for multiple people. How does it feel that it's all finally finished.

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Speaker 2: Your journey has come to a close.

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Speaker 4: I thought I was the only guy.

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Speaker 3: Multiple Well now you are. You are now, so I think that, like you said, there was multiple emotions. I came into this like really enthusiastic and thought I was ready and this is just going to be, you know, an easy, fun journey, and then about midway it became really really hard and so difficult, and I wasn't as you know, enthusiastic and wasn't feeling as positive. And then as we got to the end, it became pure joy because I knew I had my person here and that's where I am now.

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Speaker 1: It's just pure joy chock at the end when when you guys get engaged and you know, after all said and that, and the producers kind of step away and you guys have like that first moment to yourselves not you know, not miked up away from the cameras. How was that moment? What was that?

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Speaker 4: Like, there's there's a there's a good story with that. We go back to the cruise ship, which was just incredible. They go into Jones room and we sit down next to each other and I look at it and I go, all right, tell me about yourself. It was just real because we did have a lot of time. The cameras don't show all the time that we had together, but you're living in a bubble and it's fast tracked. But I mean, we had from a compatibility and from just a really attraction and love for each other. It just started instantly and we have We've been very fortunate since the day we left the cruise ship left to heating. We have talked at least three times a day every day. We've not missed a day, and it's just been fantastic to have that attraction to make the commitment, but then also to get to know someone like we have spent time together and we're incredibly compatible. I've just been so surprised about this. It's been it's like we've been married for five or ten years.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's amazing.

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Speaker 3: It's been really easy. Yeah. It was funny though. That first day I walk in the room. He has a bottle of wine at like twelve noon in the middle of the day, and he's like, so, you should probably get to know each other because you know, as you guys know you've done it before. You have the like big major conversations all the time. You know, it's always about like, you know, where do you expect your life to be, and talk about your family and talk about your loss and you know, all the things that have kind of major depression you are up until this point in your life, and you don't have any of those little conversations like where do you like to go out to dinner or do you like to cook, or like what's your dog's name and all that kind of stuff. So we literally sat there for like five hours and drank wine and just had all those little conversations because you know, we had already figured out the big stuff. We matched on, we matched on our values and you know, the things that we want out of life. But we just didn't know each other that well.

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Speaker 2: Honestly, I didn't.

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Speaker 4: I didn't know our dog's name.

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Speaker 3: You did it all my kids names and I have.

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Speaker 4: My mother was a physician and she had one of the most incredible memories and I got a good part of that from her. But I was read I'd never watched a Bachelor episode, not one of them, prior to going on the show. And I disclosed that too, and they go, that's fine. I wanted it to be fresh, and I wanted everything to be new to me. Well, I was reading up on Joan and it just took me one article and I was able to memorize all the kids' names, her mother's name or mother in law's name, the dog's name. And while some people might say that's a little cringey, I just loved it. It was just natural for me because when we're talking and something that came up as her oldest son works in the insurance business. And I'm in the insurance business too, And she said Nick, and she was saying about his job, and I go, yeah, he's in the insurance business. She's like that, And I just read one article and I was able to remember that, Wow.

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Speaker 2: You did your homework.

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Speaker 5: I know when Joe and I first had that moment that you guys are talking about, where like the cameras are gone, you go to the room, I remember Joe like opened two beers and our conversation was very much like Okay, it's done, Like oh my gosh, what don't we just go through like this sense of like, well you been through this. It's no I was just gonna say, we've been through this unreal life changing process. Was there any of that of like, let's just talk about everything that just happened.

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Speaker 1: Well, what was.

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Speaker 4: Really cool about the fantasy is we just had an opportunity to talk and that was the first time, you know, we had talked before a little bit off camera. They don't let you do that for good reasons. But we were able to talk about a lot of different things, and we stayed up till it was in the middle of the morning.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, it was three or four am.

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Speaker 4: And then because we didn't have a bedroom, I had to do the walk of shame back to my room. It was funny, but just you know, the communication and we're just so much alike. It's just we're very blessed to have that, and I couldn't be happier. The other thing that I do want to mention is when you know you've got the right person. The day that we were leaving, Joan was down in her room and I was in my room. I didn't want to leave her. Yeah, I mean it was just this weird feeling if she's packing and I'm packing, and you're going, we're going back to our world, our lives, and I didn't want to do it. I mean, it was a tough goodbye for me. Really, That's that's when you know you've got the right person.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, that's that's a good sign. Chuck. You mentioned never watching the show Joan, you've kind of been in this world now for a minut it, Chuck. When you did leave Joan and you got home and you kind of you knew, you knew that you had it happy ending. But the show hasn't airred yet, and there's there's so much you can't even really talk about. Was there anyone within Bachelor Nation, maybe like a Jesse Palmer or just guys from your season that you were able to reach out to and talk to?

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Speaker 4: Well, we put a group text together with all the guys, and I say all the guys, it was probably the fourteen to fifteen of us. You know, the guys that left the first night that was difficult. They weren't you know, they didn't have the opportunity to go to those next levels. And we have communicated on that so much and we keep in contact and the great friendships. I've talked to Guy every week, Michael Dan had some communication with Jack in. The relationships that we've been able to form are just incredible. And I got to tell you Keith is he is so special. Keith is the glue to the guys staying together and he cares about everybody and he's such a fun good man.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, we've had him on the podcast a few times and he's got such great energy.

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Speaker 2: He's so positive.

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Speaker 5: You said that you didn't know about much about the show before you went on it. Did you know that it ended an engagement? And when you found out about the engagement. Was that something that you saw yourself being able to do in such a short amount of time.

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Speaker 4: Okay, very good question, and I will tell you. Once I got to the Bachelor Mansion, I didn't need to know anything because Keith is a walking insight his daughters, so he was just filling me in. And there's a funny joke. I didn't even know what the Golden Rose was. I mean, I'd walked by it on these rose ceremonies. I had no idea. It was kind of a standing joke going. This guy didn't know anything about the show, and so that was you know, but I wanted it fresh, and I wanted it to be new to me and just to take it and for what it was and to not be you know, calculated or thinking through it too much the whole process. And so you know, there's some there's some times you saw me and it was it was me, and other times, you know, I don't know if they were able to show the whole you know, interlude with these other gentlemen, but you know, very happy how it turned out. And what was the second part of your question. I'm sorry, Oh, the engagement.

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Speaker 3: It's avoiding that. I feel like I do a thing.

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Speaker 4: It's called self check, and I've done this my whole life, and it's when I look in the mirror and I asked myself and through the dealings that I've had from relationships to business deals, and I look in the mirror and I go, are you okay with this? And the night before I looked in the mirror and I said, are you okay with this? And it didn't even I didn't even to think about it. I go, absolutely, I've got the woman, a chance of a lifetime to spend with the most incredible woman I've met. And it was just instantly. The casting director when we were going through the pre show, she asked me the last conversation before she told me that I was going to be on the show. She goes, now, you know that there's a strong chance, this strong probability, this is going to end in an engagement. So that was kind of another self check, and I said, absolutely, I'm ready for it, so very happy to do it. Thought through it as best as anyone can. You are taking a leap of faith, but very happy I did it, and absolutely zero regrets, no regrets whatsoever.

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Speaker 5: Good good, And you have to say that because Joan's sitting next to you and you're on camera.

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Speaker 4: So well, it wasn't because I'm you know, I'm a very transparent parent person, and I got to tell you, I was just blessed to have the whole thing happen. And I just, you know, I've had relationships and there was some couple of social media posts going well because I said, you know, this was probably the most incredible thing, and somebody goes, well, what about your other relationships? Those stand on their own, and they were two great people. It's just in my life right now. This has just been incredible.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, Joan, how was it? How was it meeting Chuck's family for the first time?

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Speaker 3: Oh gosh, So that was a really big hometown. Like generally bachelor hometowns are like maybe a little bit more intimate. But because they were doing the you know, the ceremony for his mom who had just passed away, you know, there was a lot of.

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Speaker 2: Friends sorry to hear that, We're so sorry about that.

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Speaker 3: So I met a lot of people. So I obviously met his you know, daughter and son, and he is such easy conversation with them, probably maybe the easiest I had of all the hometowns. It was just it was easy. Blow kind of like every every interaction I ever had with Chalk, even like from our first time together, it was easy. It was the same thing with his kids. But I got to meet his and his dad and his stepmom, and I got to meet Kathy, who is his late Beyonce's father was there, so Tom was there and I got to meet him. It was there were there was a lot of family. There are brothers there. There were a lot of interactions and it was kind of easy. You know, he's from Kansas, he's from the Midwest. People are just friendly, they're just innately. Many people were you.

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Speaker 1: Were you at all worried going into hometowns that like what if what if the family doesn't like me? Or what if I just don't get along with the family. Was that Did you have any worries?

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Speaker 3: Sure, you know absolutely, I've been saying kind of all along that either the way this ends up for people our age, or the way that I picture it ending up is that you're not necessarily going to move to one place or the other or find a place where you both want to be. Kind of like you young guys got to get to do, you know, because you're not you know, bound to a place. You don't have kids yet, you don't have a lot of responsibilities, so you can you're really mobile. That's the opposite with us. We have lots of responsibilities. He has a business, we have kids, I have grandchildren, I have a mom and mother in law who's still alive. So I have a lot of responsibilities. So I had to picture myself being at his place and he has to picture himself kind of living at mine, because we're going to be doing a combination of both. So, you know, hometowns are really important because you have to actually picture yourself living there. So those interactions and even just did you like the place? You know, do I can I picture myself being in Kansas and you picture himself being in Maryland. These and these are important things because it's going to be a reality, at least for a little while.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, No, absolutely, it's it's probably like the biggest, one of the biggest things.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, where you're going to live, it's reality, But we're not concerned about that at all. Yeah, we're going to spend time in New York City. I'm going to collect great place where I can take time and we're looking forward to it.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, it'll be an exciting adventure if you're both on the same page and open to you know, making that kind of shift of where you're going to be not one hundred percent in one place all the time, it could be really exciting.

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Speaker 1: Well, it's also all about communication as well. Like you you've said, since you guys have been together, you talk three times a day like that. That is really important because there are going to be moments and potentially months in your life where you're not together. But there's FaceTime, there's text messages, there's phone calls, and like that just makes it so much easier.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, we don't. We don't go to sleep without talking to each other. Yeah, Yeah, that's kuch a great conversation. I mean, sometimes it's short, I'm tired, I'm going to bed. Other times we'll talk for thirty to forty five minutes.

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Speaker 3: He asked me every single time if he calls me at night, what are you wearing? Like an old T shirt?

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Speaker 4: My secrets out.

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Speaker 5: Again other than what Joan wears to bed? What have you guys learned about each other since leaving the show? Any vague surprises?

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Speaker 4: I will tell you I didn't know how smart Joan was and I knew she was smart, but she's a whole different level. And I use this today. I go, she is going to be the matriarch and I like it. And she's been very helpful with me. And there's certain things that and this is why I think it feels like we've been married for three to five years. There's certain things like Joan, just take you know, you take care of it. You tell me where I need to be, what I need to do, booking reservations next weekend in New York City for dinner. It just works so well. And we've all already learned that, you know, five percent of kind of the non negotiaboard, this is what I want to do. That we're both good with that. But we've had we've had these great lives where we've done a lot of stuff, and now it's just having fun and no drama. I mean, we are so big on the no drama.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, we do not want drama. And the thing that I learned about him was that he's a fixer. So if I get you know, if I'm having something going on during the day and I go, oh, this is like really frustrating me, He's like like trying to figure out. He's like, so I know this person, I can call him or you know, let me let me see how I can figure you know, fix this for you. He's a fixer. He doesn't want to see me unhappier, worried if I'm unhappier worried. He's unhappy and worried.

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Speaker 1: Chock gets things done.

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Speaker 3: Yeah he does.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, just like this relationship.

00:15:47
Speaker 3: There we are.

00:15:57
Speaker 1: Before we pivot to the finale. Chock. During your hometown you got a little slack with people saying that may have been too intimate of a setting. Do you have a response to that.

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Speaker 4: And when you give me more specifics on it?

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Speaker 5: Yeah, So on your hometown date, you spent time with your family and with Joan honoring your mother.

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Speaker 2: You guys, you know, said some beautiful words.

00:16:23
Speaker 5: You did some almost like a ceremony for her, and some people were surprised to see that because it was a really intimate space to bring Joan into. Can you kind of just walk us through that decision and maybe give some people some insight into why you wanted Joan to be a.

00:16:38
Speaker 2: Part of that.

00:16:39
Speaker 4: The memorial for my mother and what I will tell you this is I loved her. I talked to my mother almost every day and we were credibly close. I was happy that I was able to memorialize her in that way. And she was a non traditionalist, and to plant a tree where somebody passes away, where something else is going to live, I thought that was one of the best ideas and might have been a little different. So what we planted the tree and made the decision that a few of us were going to put dirt around the tree. So I was going to go last, had my brother do it, had the other family members, and then I looked at Joan and I go, would you do this? Because Joan had never obviously never met my mother, but it was a way to just connect with her that was important to me. And people could go, you know, And it wasn't a funeral, It was a memorial service, and it was really a celebration of life. And for those of us that have lost loved ones, that's the best way you could say, a celebration of life. And I'm glad she got to participate in that. And it was me asking her to do it, and she did it for me and my mother, which I appreciate greatly.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, Joan, what did that mean? To you to be there for that.

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Speaker 3: I was really sad. I knew his mother was really sick when he came to the show. It was one of the conversations we had early on, and I had so hoped that she was going to make it so that like the first place we could go, like right when we got to leave the show, was you know, to see her, because I you know, he has She was a really incredible moon extremely smart, kind of became a doctor later in life. She was kind of a missionary. She went to other countries to help them, and an incredible women. So I felt really sad that I didn't get to meet her. So to have this like any bitty part of you know, the last part of her life or of her memory. I just felt really honored that I got to do that. I it didn't feel awkward to me at all.

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Speaker 4: And the hometown wasn't built on that. It wasn't that was a bonus in the town was for to Joan to come back to where I live, meet my family, meet my friends, and see a little bit about Kansas. And I really liked the aspect of we have suburbs, we have you know, that's one thing you can kind of do that, but to go out in the country in Roger's place, it's absolutely gorgeous. I don't know how yeah, but it's for Kansas. It's very unique. And so I thought the whole thing went great. And that's another one of those times that I looked at Joan and when we were inside, and my love language is a touch. I walked that behind her and just me touching her from behind while she was talking to my friends and being very interactive, just meant the world to me. And that's going you know, this is destined for us.

00:19:13
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I feel like moments like that help you realize how special the person that you're with is and it probably moves your feelings along so much quicker. And in something like The Bachelor, where things move so quickly, it only really it helps progress.

00:19:31
Speaker 4: And if I can't you're on this topic. I was very, very happy and impressed with production on how they handled the whole thing when I left the Bachelor Mansion. When I came back, I couldn't have asked for more. They were so family oriented, so thinking and considerate of my situation. The executive producer comes up, he goes, we'll do whatever you want if you don't want to come back. Whatever you want, you take as much time. I couldn't have asked for more.

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Speaker 2: That's great.

00:19:58
Speaker 5: How did it feel going back into the mansion? You know, you've just gone through a really hard time, losing your mom, You're leaving your family to go back on the show.

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Speaker 2: What were those emotions?

00:20:08
Speaker 4: Like? It was all about Joan. If I hadn't connected with Joan, I wouldn't have come back. Yeah. It just it's that plain and simple. And I was, you know, I came back to see where this journey was going to go, and I'm glad I did. I had time. And the thing was is, I tried to get my mother to move back to Witchdal She was raised there. She lived in Oregon, out in the country, just loved it, and that's where she wanted to pass This was stage poor terminal cancer. We all knew it was going to happen, but her wish was to pass away in her home. So doing that and then sitting there with George to make sure that he's okay. And I've actually just was out to see him a week or two ago. My brother and I went out there helped him move some stuff. You know, he's doing great, he's mobile. But coming back, I sat there and I go, my mother told me before I went on the show, she goes, go do this, and we actually have it on film and she goes, go do it. Go live your life, and so that that's what I was thinking, is she wanted me to do this, And then I've got this incredible person that if I don't get back on that plane and go to LA it's probably it won't ever happen.

00:21:10
Speaker 1: Yeah, Joan, did you know how strong Chock's feelings were for you before he left?

00:21:16
Speaker 3: So I knew that we had like this really good connection because our date or does a land date, was like pretty incredible. We just flowed so easily right from the start, and I knew that we were good, I didn't know how good. And so, you know, I left the Golden Bachelor like in similar circumstances. My family needed me, and I had planned on coming back and never was able to. So when he left and said, and he kept saying to me, I promise him coming back, I promise him coming back, And you know, kind of that point was the first time that we've really had like like that intimate hug that lasts for like thirty seconds. You know that one is that neither one of you wants to let go. So when he left, I felt like he was like he was planning on coming back. This was the truth, but I didn't know what he was going to find on the other end, and that he could end up in Oregon and things could not be as good as he thought they would be, and they were going to need him. And I knew the type of person he was, and if they needed him, he wouldn't have come back. So I got really nervous. And that's when I figured out how strong my feelings were for him, because I kept thinking, if he doesn't come back, I'm not going to be able to finish this, Like there's going to be a huge question mark that, you know, going unanswered. Won't let me move forward with somebody else. So yeah, this was that was a pivotal moment in our relationship.

00:22:32
Speaker 1: Actually, yeah, yeah, I thank god he came back. He could have ended up with like Keith or something.

00:22:40
Speaker 4: The guys there would a brother in law.

00:22:48
Speaker 3: Question right now if.

00:22:50
Speaker 4: I was younger the uncle, because he would be he is so much fun.

00:22:55
Speaker 1: Let's cut to uh, yeah, let's let's move over to the finale, Joan Chok meets your kids for the first time. Everything seems to go as smooth as it could go. After he leaves, what's the conversation between you and your kids.

00:23:12
Speaker 3: My kids thought it was so obvious that he was the person that they literally said, they'd never seen me look Haavier that it been so many years, Like we had so many years of you know, John was dying for two years and they passed away, and three years of that, and you know it was during COVID, our business failed. We just had had a lot of really hard times all in like a like five year period, and I was just like just plain happy, just plain and simple, like life was good again. It just felt good. I had my person and they could just see it on my face. And then they you know, got to talk to him, and you know, I think at the end of the day we were all good. There was you know, there was no need to go any farther. We were, we were done.

00:23:58
Speaker 1: Yeah.

00:23:59
Speaker 4: Yeah, after the date, by May, we all went out to dinner. Yeah. It was you know, Joe's like, a's cool if we go with my family going Absolutely that's a big part of who we are as our family and friends. Yeah.

00:24:10
Speaker 5: Yeah, going into that day before they met Chalk, did they have any nerves or skepticism about the process or just you know, seeing you in a new relationship, or were they really.

00:24:24
Speaker 2: Open minded to everything.

00:24:26
Speaker 3: So I wasn't actually able to talk to them until he and I actually saw them. So from the time I had been home until getting you know that we actually walked in and saw them sitting there, you know, on the show, ready to talk to us. I hadn't spoken to him. But you know, going into this whole journey, they you know, they wanted me to be happy, and they knew that I was really serious. This was I felt like this was a really unique opportunity to find somebody that I was never going to have this kind of chance again. And you know, I had done dating. I had dated people, and I had tried it in all the various ways you can date these days, and none of it had been really successful. So I know that they would if they saw that I was happy, they were going to be really open to the person that I had met because they wanted it to turn out well for me.

00:25:11
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:25:12
Speaker 1: How are you both feeling on that final date, knowing that that was your final date? Yeah?

00:25:19
Speaker 4: How about you. Oh, I was ready to go. The only thing was that we went over. We took these little motor yachts over to this private island and it was just absolutely gorgeous to heit. He It's just it's like no other place in the world. And we get on the island and we do a little photo opportunity, and then we're walking around and I'm working on my proposal and the producer I'm working with, I go, well, if I don't get this right, can I do a retake? And he goes, absolutely not. And so that's the only time I'm like, don't mess it up, don't mess it up. But it's tough. But seeing Joan walking around the corner and she was standing on the north end of this island, she looked absolutely gorgeous and I was just, you know, I was like, again, I'm the luckiest guy. And it just went easy, it really did. And the surprise of her kids being there after the engagement, after the acceptance was just It's one of those moments you'll remember. And the kids were so happy. I shouldn't say kids, they're young adults, but they were very happy for John. It was just a great moment.

00:26:18
Speaker 3: So The interaction their date before like our last one where I got to go to see him for the one last time, was kind of like a full circuit moment because we had both in a weird conversation that we didn't have on camera, which is very rarely happens. He said, you know, I've always wanted to live in New York City and I was like me too, and so at that. You know, on our date, he gave me this like incredible gift which was a key, and it was just a symbolic key, and he said, you know, I want us to get a place in New York City together. So we are actually leaving on Friday to go to New York and we're spending a few days there. We're going to spend a day looking and then we're going to spend a bunch of time around the holidays there to fund an apartment.

00:27:01
Speaker 1: Okay, so I have a lot of New York questions for you guys, but that seems to be the perfect place to wrap part one of this episode. So we are gonna wrap it up right here. Joan Chalk, thank you so much, and we can't wait. I can't wait to get into more with you. Guys come part two, so everyone make sure you stay tuned in and download and subscribe.

00:27:24
Speaker 5: Bat you happy, y'all, Thanks for listening, Bye bud Oh