What Did Mel Say on a Podcast Before The Golden Bachelor? His Exact Words That Almost Got Him Fired
Jason Pham
He’s been one of Bachelor Nation’s most controversial leads, and there’s only been one episode. But what did Mel say on a podcast before The Golden Bachelor Season 2 that almost got him fired and replaced? Well, it’s as bad as you think.
Mel Owens, a 66-year-old lawyer and a retired NFL linebacker from Laguna Hills, California, was announced as the Season 2 Golden Bachelor on April 2025. However, less than two months later, he faced backlash for a podcast interview, which many fans and members of Bachelor Nation deemed as ageist and against the spirit of why the Golden Bachelor franchise was even created.
Related: All The Golden Bachelor spoilers about Mel’s season
What did Mel say on a podcast before The Golden Bachelor Season 2?
Mel came under fire after his June 4, 2025, interview on the “MGoBlue” podcast with Jon Jansen, during which he revealed that his age preference for his contestants was between 45 and 60 years old. (Mel’s ex-wife, Fabiana Pimentel Owens, is 19 years younger than him and was around 47 years old at the time his Golden Bachelor season premiered.)
“They ask me, ‘What’s your preferences?’ So I just said [ages] 45 to 60, just being honest,” Mel said. “And then we had lunch with the executive producer. I said, ‘You know, if they’re 60 or over, I’m cutting them.’”
Mel revealed that the executive producer responded by telling him, “‘Mel, you can’t. This is not The Silver Bachelor. This is The Golden Bachelor.’ He goes, ‘But they’re going to be hot. Don’t worry about it.’” He continued, “He goes, ‘You can’t use the word cut.’ I go, ‘Well, that’s an NFL term.’”
Mel also confirmed that he “had no say” in picking the women on his Golden Bachelor season, but was told they were “going to be beautiful.” “They asked me, ‘What is my profile?’ Well, [the women] got to be fit, because I’m staying in shape and work out and stuff. And I told them, ‘Try to stay away from the artificial hips and the wigs, you know, that kind of stuff, right?’” he said. He added that he was looking for a woman who was a “lifetime learner” and loved to “work out, stay fit, eat, have fun, be energetic and live life.”
After the podcast, Mel faced backlash from fans and several members of Bachelor Nation, with many calling his comments ageist. A month after the interview, Reality Steve reported in July 2025 that Mel was almost fired and replaced as the Season 2 Golden Bachelor because of the controversy. “I’m hearing that Mel Owens is OUR as the Golden Bachelor due to recent negative publicity surrounding his June 4th podcast appearance,” Reality Steve wrote at the time. “Expect an announcement soon incl[uding] who is going to replace him. Haven’t heard a name yet on who that is. Will update if/when I hear.”
Reality Steve later retracted his report and confirmed that Mel would still be the Season 2 Golden Bachelor. Mel, for his part, apologized for his comments in an interview with Glamour in August 2025, in which he revealed that he didn’t expect people to be upset as they were.
“My friend called me from Michigan. She’s 65, and I went to school with her, and she’s an attorney and a hot shot for the Big 10 in administration. I didn’t know she’s also a big fan of The Bachelor. 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. That’s how I found out, basically,” he said. “She said, ‘What you said was insensitive, and it’s just not who you are.’ My reference of dating was 39, 40 years old. I hadn’t dated in 26, 27 years. That’s what I told her. She goes, ‘It doesn’t matter. You’ve said some things that are just incredibly wrong.’ And I go, ‘I’ve got to apologize.'”
He continued, “I’m getting [this feedback] from a great friend of mine who’s 65, and she’s a woman. She goes, ‘Come on, that’s insensitive.’ I told her, ‘I said it because of my frame of reference,’ which I now know was incorrect.”
Mel also explained that he hadn’t watched The Golden Bachelor before agreeing to be on it, which is why he made his comments. “Because I didn’t know anything about The Golden Bachelor ages. I didn’t. I had watched the first show when I was younger, when it first launched or something in 2002, until my son was born. But then when he was born, I didn’t watch it anymore,” he said. “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. My reference, again, was when I was dating at 39, 40. I hadn’t dated in 26 years, so I had no clue. And that’s why I said that comment. I didn’t know. I didn’t know. And I didn’t know that [Gerry] got married and then divorced. I didn’t know any of it.”
During the interview, which was conducted in the middle of filming The Golden Bachelor Season 2, Mel also confirmed that he apologized to his contestants for his remarks. “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,'” he said. “And hopefully, these last two weeks I earned some of that back.”
He continued, “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.”
Mel also revealed that he was impressed by many women in his cast who were over the age of 60. “I’m at the court, and there’s tons of lawyers there, of course, but the things they do, like one was a bomb squad person and there’s a couple dentists, a doctor, a motocross racer, a flight attendant for 40 years. You have all these varied professions,” he said. “And they’re not 40. They’re 60, 65, maybe 70. And they go, ‘Oh, I’m still working. I’m still riding. I have my practice.’ So there it is. It’s right in front of you.”
Mel, for his part, also denied rumors that he was almost fired as the Golden Bachelor. “When people said to me, ‘Hey, are you getting replaced?’ I go, ‘Not that I know of.’ And I wasn’t, again, actively searching frenetically, like, Oh my gosh, what’s going on?” he said.
He also confirmed that he would’ve been upset if he was replaced because of his comments. “Looking back on it and looking forward, it’s a great experience. It’s such a great experience for me, so, yeah, I wouldn’t have wanted to be recast. But I’m going to earn it back,” he said.
He also gave a message to viewers who didn’t plan to tune into his season because of his seemingly ageist comments. “Well, if you don’t tune in, you’ll never know. So you’ve got to tune in. And again, I’m trying to earn it back. Watch the show and see if I earn it back. Because I apologized [on night one].” he said. “You have to be earnest in your work to get the trust back. Everybody there is smart, and they can see through you if you’re lying or you don’t mean what you say. That’s why I say tune in. Hopefully the show will show that the women that are in their golden years, that are doing these amazing things. It’s inspirational.”
