Bachelor Nation was shocked and angry when incoming Golden Bachelor Mel Owens went viral for a podcast interview in which the 66-year-old said he would eliminate anyone from the show who was 60 or older. All of a sudden the traditionally heartwarming series was marred in controversy before it even hit the 2025 TV schedule. The former NFL player has now spoken out and revealed that he actually got roasted by the women for his comments.
When Mel Owens went on the In the Trenches podcast in June, filming hadn’t yet begun on The Golden Bachelor Season 2, which means the cast — which features only one woman under 60 years old — was aware of the comments before meeting their suitor in person. He therefore had to address that right off the bat upon entering Bachelor Mansion. As Owens told Glamour:
I apologized to the women on the show. When I first walked in, I addressed it. I apologized to them. I said, ‘It was unfair, insensitive. I want to earn it back. Just give me the chance.’ And hopefully, these last two weeks I earned some of that back.
Filming is now underway on the dating show that’s set to premiere in September (and will be available to stream with a Hulu subscription), and it sounds like Mel Owens was able to quash the age-related drama before it became a huge thing. However, that didn’t stop his fellow cast members from trolling him about it. The former L.A. Ram continued:
Yeah, during our one-on-ones, 12 or 15 of them said, ‘We appreciate the apology, and it meant a lot to us.’ And they also had a roast. One of the dates was a roast. It was brutal. They were killing me.
It sounds like his words — “If they’re 60 or over, I’m cutting them.” — were forgiven but not forgotten, because Mel Owens said the women were quick to remind him that at 66 years old, he was no spring chicken anymore. Owens continued:
I can’t remember all of them, but one said, ‘Oh, when Mel was walking with me, he was using me as a cane.’ And I’m from Detroit, right? One said, ‘Like a Detroit pizza, he’s doughy, squishy, square, and crusty.’ It was good because I earned that, and I took it and I deserved it, and it landed squarely on me. They were throwing haymakers. It was good.
With this roast apparently being a group date on The Golden Bachelor, I suppose we’ll be able to see the ladies exact their revenge on Mel Owens. However, with his comments spreading outside of the reality TV realm to where even the co-hosts of The View have discussed it, many in Bachelor Nation seem wary of tuning in.
Is the fact that Mel Owens apologized to the women enough to win back those fans? Will Bachelor Nation forgive him now that he’s admitted his podcast comments were “unfair,” “insensitive” and “a mistake by me”?
Only time will tell. The Golden Bachelor Season 2 is set to premiere at 8 p.m. ET Wednesday, September 24, on ABC and streaming the next day on Hulu.
