New “Golden Bachelor” star Mel Owens admitted he’s not interested in dating anyone over 60.
“If they’re 60 or over, I’m cutting them,” the 66-year-old said on the “In the Trenches” podcast earlier this month of the upcoming season of the ABC series.
Owens added that he was frank with producers during the casting process, telling them he only wanted women aged “45 to 60 … just being honest.”
“This is not ‘The Silver Bachelor,’ this is ‘The Golden Bachelor,’” he added, stipulating that “they’ve got to be fit, because I stay in shape and work out and stuff. And I told [producers] to try to stay away from the artificial hips and the wigs.”
Owens faced backlash on X for his ageist and superficial comments.
“Starting to explain why he’s 66 and single,” one person wrote, while another remarked, “Mel Owens & @ABCnetwork @GoldenBachABC can take their ageist BS & shove it!”
“Wow, what an ass. Hopefully, no one will watch. Reminds me of these recent men who were not hot complaining to me that women don’t age well,” a third user posted.
The senior dating series — a spinoff of the “Bachelor” franchise — returns with its second season this fall.
The show’s first season starred Gerry Turner, now 72, who dated a cast of women aged 60 and older. He ultimately proposed to Theresa Nist, 71, though the former couple announced their split in April 2024 after only three months of marriage.
“Theresa and I have had a number of heart-to-heart conversations, and we’ve looked closely at our situation, our living situation, so forth, and we’ve kind of come to the conclusion mutually that it’s probably time for us to dissolve our marriage,” Turner said on “Good Morning America” during a joint interview with Nist at the time.
When asked by reporter Juju Chang if that meant a divorce, Turner responded, “Yes.”
“We have received so much love and support from so many people who watched ‘The Golden Bachelor,’ and I don’t think we can tell you how many people told us that it gave them so much hope,” Nist added. “We want none of that to change for anybody.”
In a December 2024 interview, Nist confessed that she has been approached by younger suitors following her appearance on the dating series and subsequent divorce.
“I do get approached through Instagram direct messages, but you wouldn’t believe how young these guys are,” she told People at the time.
“They’re so young that they’re younger than my son!”
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