Golden Bachelor Star Mel Owens Backtracks on Ageist Remarks — But Fans Aren’t Buying It

The next installment of The Golden Bachelor hasn’t even premiered, and its star, Mel Owens, is already apologizing. 

The former NFL linebacker found himself in a reality-sized controversy on the June 4 episode of the In the Trenches podcast when he revealed that his age “preference” for contestants was between “45 to 60.” Somehow, Owens forgot that the show is about finding love in the later years of life — and by the way, he’s 66 years old. 

Well, ABC publicity might have given Owens a stern warning because he was quite apologetic in an Aug. 1 interview with Glamour. He claimed that it took a friend to knock him to his senses after telling The Golden Bachelor producers to “stay away from the artificial hips and the wigs” while casting his potential love interest.

“My friend called me from Michigan. She’s 65, and I went to school with her, and she’s an attorney and a hotshot for the Big 10 in administration. I didn’t know she’s also a big fan of The Bachelor,” Owens explained. “She said to me, ‘Mel, no. What are you doing?’ She goes, ‘I’m reading all about it.’ I didn’t know that it hit that hard. She goes, ‘You’ve got to right the wrong.’ So, I listened to her. She said, ‘What you said was insensitive, and it’s just not who you are.’”

He alleged that he watched The Bachelor in the early years, but he blamed his error on the fact that he hasn’t dated in almost three decades — he was married to Fabiana Pimentel, who was 19 years his junior, from 2002 until 2020.

“So, when these people talk about, ‘Hey, this season and that season,’ I didn’t know the age range because I wasn’t watching it. I’m thinking, to me, the age range was 45 to 60. That’s my age range. I’m thinking that’s the gold years for me,” Owens continued. “My reference, again, was when I was dating at 39, 40. I hadn’t dated in 26 years, so I had no clue.”

Owens is now on his apology tour to the women he’s dating while currently filming the show, but the fans don’t seem to be buying his message right now. 

One angry fan wrote on X, “Loved the first season but won’t watch it this time around. This dude sounds like an arrogant, egotistical, POS! @ABCNetwork @warnerbros @GoldenBachABC should remove him now and recast the role.” Another viewer added, “Considering there were no contestants under 60 on the first Golden Bachelor, good luck finding a match, a—h—e! #boycottmelowens”

There were rumors that the network was going to recast Owens’ role, per Reality Steve, but ABC stood firmly by him. Still, The Golden Bachelor will have a hurdle to overcome since the issue happened before filming even began. Will it impact ratings? Viewers and ABC will have the answer to that question when the show returns on Wednesday, Sept. 24.

Before you go, click here to see the most dramatic splits in Bachelor and Bachelorette history.