Joan Vassos and Chock Chapple have weighed in on ABC's decision to have Mel Owens star on The Golden Bachelor's second season.

ADVERTISEMENT

ABC announced in April that Mel, a 66-year-old lawyer and former NFL football player, will be handing out roses when The Golden Bachelor returns.

RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)

"I didn't get a chance to meet Mel, but I do have to say he's a good looking guy. I think he's going to do great!" Mel told Joe Amabile and Serena Pitt during a recent appearance on the "Bachelor Happy Hour" podcast.

"He's got some rizz, and I think you need somebody with that. I learned that word last year... but he's got confidence, and I think he'll do a good job."

Chock acknowledged how "social media has been kind of beating him up" but they "beat everybody up."

Chock therefore announced, "Mel, if you want some advice, call me! But no, I think he's going to do great."

Chock, however, admitted he had made a lot of friends on Joan's season of The Golden Bachelorette whom he was "rooting for" to become the Season 2 star of The Golden Bachelor.

"But I'm just going to support the decision, and hopefully it's a great show and it's very entertaining for everyone. I hope two people find love!" Chock noted.

Joan, who also hasn't met Mel yet, pointed out how Mel "looks great on paper."

"He has quite an interesting life. He was a professional football player and he became a lawyer. He lives in L.A. and has a couple of kids," Joan said.

"It doesn't look like he had a bad divorce. I haven't seen a lot on social media about him. I think on paper he looks really good."

Joan also told Joe and Serena that you "can't deny he's a handsome guy."

"He's in good shape and he's fit," Joan continued.

"I think there are going to be a lot of women applying to be on the show suddenly. I don't know what the applications looked like before he was announced, but I bet they had a huge [increase]."

RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)  

Serena expressed how Mel appears to be a "solid" pick, which prompted Joan to voice, "I was surprised that it seemed like he was a last-minute pick."

Joan said when looking at all the circumstances -- including "how handsome he is" and "what his resume looks like" -- she thought he'd be a no-brainer for ABC.

"It seems a little weird that he was a last-minute pick," Joan elaborated.

"I can't imagine that when he came across their desk, they wouldn't have been like, 'Oh my gosh, this is the guy!' I wonder about that a little bit."

The Golden Bachelor host Jesse Palmer previously provided some insight into why ABC had chosen Mel to star on The Golden Bachelor's second season.

"Mel is obviously super handsome. He's very charming, he's very intelligent, he's very successful," Jesse told Us Weekly in April.

"He had this incredible pro football career and transitioned into becoming a successful warrior."

Jesse added, "I think while he's had a lot of success professionally, there have been some hills and valleys in his personal life."

Mel, who now lives Orange County, CA, was married for 25 years to his "first love," with whom he welcomed two sons, before they divorced.

Jesse called Mel a "devoted father" and insisted that the former athlete is looking for genuine and lasting love, rather than something "extravagant."

Jesse shared, "When you talk with him, what he misses most about being married and being in a relationship, it's just having and enjoying those simple everyday moments."

RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)

Mel is probably hoping to leave The Golden Bachelor with a lifelong partner, following in Joan's footsteps.

Joan and Chock got engaged on The Golden Bachelorette finale, which aired in November 2024 on ABC.

Although the pair made a serious commitment to each other, they decided to continue living in their respective states in order to be close to their children and grandkids.

Since Joan lives in Maryland and Chock is still working in Kansas, the couple thought New York would be a great place for them to occasionally meet up and have romantic adventures together.

Joan and Chock are therefore still searching for the perfect apartment in the Big Apple.

As far as wedding planning goes, Chock said in May that he and Joan won't be tying the knot in 2025, although they had initially eyed a 2025 wedding.

"Her son [Nick]'s getting married in the summer, and then another [son of Joan, Luke] is probably going to get engaged, so we're like, 'Let's just put [a wedding] on hold for now,'" Chock told Parade.

(Joan welcomed four kids with her late husband John Vassos, who passed away after a battle with pancreatic cancer in 2021).

Chock added that Joan doesn't want to "compete" with her kids' nuptials and their "crazy" schedule is booked through October.

But Joan previously told Parade that she's very confident her romance with Chock will last forever.

"I fall more and more in love with him every day," she gushed earlier this year.

"He has a great sense of humor. He's an easy person to be around. He's funny. My kids adore him. My grandson, [the] last time Chock was leaving, he said, 'I don't want that guy to go.' He requires nothing."

The Golden Bachelorette star therefore concluded, "So you might not need to spend every waking moment together or you might not need to live in the same city, and that's how we feel right now about it."

Joan also threw shade at The Golden Bachelor's Season 1 couple Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist for getting married in January 2024, just a few months after their engagement aired on ABC, and then filing for divorce in April 2024.

During a January episode of the "Two Jersey Js" podcast, Joan said, "I think that we all kind of maybe learned a lesson from Gerry and Theresa that maybe that was too quick and they probably don't want to make that mistake again."

"I certainly am not in any rush to get married. I am actually really happy right now, just not having anything to do," she added.

RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)

Interested in more The Bachelor news? Follow our Bachelor Nation News Page on Facebook or join our The Bachelor Facebook Group!




About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON GOOGLE NEWS