Let’s be real. Those of us who are tuning in for The Golden Bachelor this season have resigned ourselves to rage-watching after Mel Owens’s offensive, ageist comment ahead of Season 2.
To refresh memories, in June, after Mel’s casting was announced, he went on the In The Trenches podcast where he shared that he was looking for a woman between 45 and 60 years old. Later in the podcast, he said, “You know, if they’re 60 and over, I’m cutting them.” Mel is 66 years old himself.
The commentary had The Golden Bachelor fans begging production to replace him. They didn’t do that and in return, many fans of the show declared that they aren’t watching. Some of us watched it with popcorn and bated breath because we knew there was drama coming, and it didn’t wait until after the premiere either.
Mel Owens apologizes for ageist comments
Mel Owens is now apologetic and learning that he is now living under a microscope where, much like a police interrogation, everything he says can and absolutely will be used against him.
“I messed up,” Owens said on The Golden Bachelor premiere. “I was wrong. I replay it in my head a lot. I have regrets, and I’m sorry for all the things I said in the podcast.”
He continued, “I know what a lot of people are thinking about me, but that’s not who I am.”
Then, Mel recapped what was said on the podcast, copping to the comments about his preference for someone in the age range of 45 to 60. He left off the part about cutting anyone older. We’ll see how this season goes but we’re watching you, Mel!
The Golden Bachelor women question why they are even there
After Mel’s unconvincing apology, we see a handful of the women hoping to win Mel’s heart bring up the comments he made months ago and ask why they are even here. They didn’t let it go there either, and Mel was confronted about what he said.
The first woman to say something directly to Mel was 71-year-old librarian Diane Firmani. During her limo entrance, she walked up to Mel and asked, “What the puck was that interview about on that podcast?”
Mel looked like a deer in headlights before telling Diane, “You know, I sincerely apologize. It was unfair, unkind. Will you give me a second chance and let me earn it back?”
Diane responded, “Stick with me and I’ll keep you out of the penalty box.”
Despite the cheesy hockey puns, Diane has quickly become our favorite, but we can imagine she won’t be sticking around long after holding Mel’s feet to the fire from the very first moment.
The next woman to mention the scandal was Terri Alani, a 71-year-old cosmetic dentist from Houston who used a puppet to ask Mel if he was surprised that women over 60 “could look so hot.” Mel seemed not to mind Terri’s age as much as his puppet seemed to weird him out.
Carla Kemp, a former model from Los Angeles, was up next. At 62 years old, she is glowing and gorgeous. She did a spin as she told Mel she’s there to “break all of your stereotypes about women over 60.”
The hits just kept coming, as all the women over 60 made sure to point it out to Mel, who apologized and asked for the chance to redeem himself. Time will tell if he’s able to do that or if this season will be a big bust.
The Golden Bachelor airs on Wednesdays at 8/7c on ABC.
