The Golden Bachelor Season 2 star Mel Owens will have some hard decisions to make when he meets 23 golden bachelorettes, who have just been formally revealed, on the second season of ABC's senior edition of The Bachelor this fall.
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The network has officially announced the cast of 23 bachelorettes who will be competing for Mel, a 66-year-old attorney and former NFL player from Orange County, CA, on Season 2 of The Golden Bachelor when the new season premieres Wednesday, September 24 at 8PM ET/PT on ABC.
The 23 women range in age from 58 to 77 and include a former model, a full-time mom, a retired biomedical engineer, a librarian, a retired firefighter, a yoga instructor, and a cosmetic dentist.
ABC had released the names of 25 golden bachelorettes who could appear on Mel's The Golden Bachelor season in July.
The two women who were dropped from the initial list of possibilities were Janet, a 65-year-old from Danville, VA, and Sandy, a 69-year-old from Rancho Cucamonga, CA.
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Earlier this summer, Mel -- who was announced as The Golden Bachelor's Season 2 star in April -- became the subject of speculation that he would be replaced as Season 2's lead after he made controversial ageist comments about his potential cast of Golden bachelorettes and admitted he wanted his cast of women to only be between the ages of 45 and 60.
"I said [to an executive producer], 'You know, if they're 60 or over, I'm cutting them,'" Mel said during a June appearance on the "MGoBlue" podcast with Jon Jansen.
Many The Bachelor franchise viewers then expressed outrage about Mel's "ageist" and "superficial" remarks on social media. However ABC still decided to stick with Mel, who was previously married to a woman 20 years younger and has two children with her, and The Golden Bachelor season began filming in California in July.
After filming began, Mel did a media interview in which he attempted to do damage control for his earlier comments.
"Those [comments] were a mistake by me. It's unfair. It's insensitive," he told Glamour magazine.
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"And I want to earn it back. I have to earn it back every single moment that I'm on the show... The spirit has no age. It's true. And also, you can change. That's the key. It is not too late to change."
Mel claimed he didn't even know his comments had created such a stir until his good friend, a 65-year-old woman, called him out.
"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,'" Mel recalled.
"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."
Mel's friend apparently told him that his comments were "insensitive" and "just incredibly wrong."
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Mel shared, "She said, 'What you said... [is] 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."
Mel went on to explain of his mindset in June, "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."
Below is a list of the 23 women who will appear on The Golden Bachelor's second season, however click on the BEGIN GALLERY link below to also see photos of all the bachelorettes and read full bios about them!
- Alexandra, a 67-year-old luxury yacht sales representative from Miami, FL
- Amy, a 63-year-old full-time mom from Short Hills, NJ
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- Andra, a 77-year-old retired federal worker from Los Angeles, CA
- Carla, a 62-year-old former model from Los Angeles, CA
- Carol, a 63-year-old family manager for baseball all-star Freddie Freeman from Villa Park, CA
- Cheryl, a 66-year-old retired IRS employee from Englewood, CO
- Cindy, a 60-year-old retired biomedical engineer from Austin, TX
- Debbie, a 65-year-old fitness professional from Denver, CO
- Diane, a 71-year-old librarian from Wasilla, AK
- Gerri, a 64-year-old home care agency CEO from Rockville, MD
- Lily, a 72-year-old retired elementary school teacher from Pacific Palisades, CA
- Lisa, a 66-year-old state park employee from Marion, OH
- Maia, a 58-year-old college sports consultant from Malibu, CA
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- Monica B., a 62-year-old flight attendant from Huntsville, AL
- Monica P., a 60-year-old cosmetic dentist from Birmingham, AL
- Mylene, a 61-year-old casino VIP host from Las Vegas, NV
- Nicolle, a 64-year-old yoga instructor from Miami Beach, FL
- Peg, a 62-year-old retired firefighter and bomb tech from Las Vegas, NV
- Robin, a 63-year-old wealth advisor and vineyard owner from Napa Valley, CA
- Roxanne, a 62-year-old longevity nurse from Austin, TX
- Susie, a 62-year-old realtor from Del Mar, CA
- Terri, a 71-year-old cosmetic dentist from Houston, TX
- Tracy, a 62-year-old interior designer from Lafayette, LA