‘Golden Bachelor’ star Mel Owens is addressing controversial remarks he made about not wanting to date women over 60 on the reality dating show: ‘It was unfair, insensitive.’ https://t.co/qk36rOXPtH
— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) August 1, 2025
-Follow up to this post wherein Owens who is 66 has refused to date anyone in his age bracket stating the following: When producers asked him about his preferred age range he stated “45 to 60, just being honest. If they’re 60 or over, I’m cutting them,” adding, “This is not The Silver Bachelor, this is The Golden Bachelor.”
-With the show premiering next month, Ownes is attempting to rehab his image having recently addressed the controversy “I’m thinking, to me, the age range was 45 to 60,” he said, “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. 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.”
-He clarified his remarks about not dating women who have had hip replacements, stating it was just “part of the reference of age” and that he doesn’t mind if one of his suitors has had one since he often represents athletes with injuries, so he knows people have them.
-It was also revealed that the women got to have a little payback for his comments when they did a roast challenge and some of the women made fun of the comments.
-Ultimately he hopes he can win back the viewers trust “Watch the show and see if I earn it back,” he said. “Because I apologized [night one]. 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… are doing these amazing things. It’s inspirational.”
