'The Golden Bachelor' star Mel Owens addresses rumors ABC was going to replace him

The Golden Bachelor star Mel Owens has addressed rumors ABC was thinking about replacing him as the Season 2 lead after his controversial age comments.


After Mel sparked backlash for saying he'd cut women over the age of 60 on his The Golden Bachelor season, a claim was widely reported that ABC had fired the former NFL player-turned-lawyer and planned to replace him.

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

"My friend who I went to school with told me [about the replacement rumor]. She was my conduit to that world," Mel told Glamour in a recent interview.

When asked if he thought the rumor was true when he first heard it, Mel replied, "No."


Mel went on to recall, "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?'"

Mel admitted of his The Golden Bachelor cast during a June appearance on the "MGoBlue" podcast, "I said [to an executive producer], 'You know, if they're 60 or over, I'm cutting them.'"

Bachelor Nation expressed outrage and disgust over Mel's "ageist" and "superficial" remarks on social media, prompting speculation ABC may replace Mel as the show's lead.

In early July, Reality Steve spoiler blogger Steve Carbone had claimed Mel was "out" as The Golden Bachelor star "due to recent negative publicity" and fans could "expect an announcement" about his replacement soon.

But one day later, Carbone backtracked and called the situation "fluid." Carbone added that he wasn't sure if anything had truly been decided yet about whether ABC would move forward with Mel.


Although Mel is only a few weeks into filming The Golden Bachelor's second season, he admitted he would've been upset if he lost out on the opportunity to do the show.

"Yeah, looking back on it and looking forward, it's a great experience," Mel told Glamour.

"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."

Mel also insisted that the "brilliant" women on his season changed him quickly.

"Right now, I'm in it. I was telling one of the producers, 'I just can't wait to tell my friends what an impact this had on me. I know it's going to be huge,'" Mel recalled.


"I don't know [in what ways] yet. I just know from my experience -- because I've done some interesting things, and I know those impact me -- and this is going to impact me in a huge way."

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

Many Bachelor Nation fans, however, have vowed not to watch Mel's The Golden Bachelor season.

Many people still seem to believe that Mel doesn't appreciate women over a certain age or that he was going to be disingenuous while filming the show to rehab his image.

"Well, if you don't tune in, you'll never know. So you've got to tune in," Mel said.


"And again, I'm trying to earn it back. Watch the show and see if I earn it back. Because I apologized [on Night 1]. 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."

Mel added, "Hopefully the show will show that the women that are in their golden years, they are doing these amazing things. It's inspirational."

Mel said that he welcomed the opportunity to become a better and more open-minded person.

He also shared in his interview how his ageist comments were "a mistake" and they were "unfair" and "insensitive" to say. He claimed to have apologized to the senior women on his season at the start of filming.

When asked about Mel's age parameters for casting and the backlash that ensued, Jesse told Us Weekly in July, "I've seen the headlines, obviously, because I'm on social media. I have not heard the podcast."


But Jesse said Mel seemed like "a good guy" and his controversial comments were definitely something they were going to "talk about."

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

Mel was announced as The Golden Bachelor's Season 2 star back in April.

Mel's initial cast of senior bachelorettes -- whom ABC has yet to confirm -- are expected to range in age from 58 to 77, but two months ago, Mel had admitted he only wanted to date women ages 45 through 60.

Mel had said on the "MGoBlue" podcast, "I said [to an executive producer], 'You know, if they're 60 or over, I'm cutting them.'"

Mel had also admitted that he wanted to stay away from women with wigs and artificial hips.


The two-hour premiere of The Golden Bachelor is set to air on Wednesday, September 24 on ABC.

According to ABC, Mel was married for 17 years and has two children with his now ex-wife Fabiana Owens, who is 20 years younger than Mel and apparently thinks his season is "going to be bad."

The network shared that when Mel got divorced and grieved the death of his father, he channeled his energy into being the best father he could be and coaching his kids' extracurricular sports teams.

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