The Golden Bachelor's Season 2 star Mel Owens is facing major backlash after he admitted he'd cut any women over the age of 60 on his season.

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Mel, 66, was announced as The Golden Bachelor's Season 2 star back in April, and he recently revealed of the casting process: "They ask me, 'What's your preferences?' So I just said [ages] 45 to 60, just being honest."

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Mel continued during an early June appearance on the "MGoBlue" podcast with Jon Jansen, "I said [to an executive producer], 'You know, if they're 60 or over, I'm cutting them.'"

Bachelor Nation has been expressing outrage and disgust over Mel's "ageist" and "superficial" remarks on social media ever since. Many fans are even pushing ABC to recast the show's leading man for Season 2.

Selling Sunset star Chrishell Stause took to Instagram Stories to share her opinion about Mel's shocking age requirement, given he'd be the "Golden" Bachelor.

"We love The Golden Bachelor because of how wholesome it is," Chrishell, 43, wrote on Thursday, June 26, according to Us Weekly. "This type of energy will ruin it."

Chrishell set her post to "Hell to Da Naw Naw Naw" by Bishop Bullwinkle.

On The Golden Bachelor's official Instagram page, fans have been lashing out at executive producers in the comments of Mel's April casting announcement.

ABC captioned the video of Mel, "He's 66 and single -- for now. Meet Mel Owens, a former NFL player-turned-lawyer, proud father, and your next Golden Bachelor."

One fan exclaimed, "THIS AINT THE BILL BELICHICK SHOW!"

Another person chimed in, "FIND SOMEONE ELSE. THIS IS LITERALLY AGAINST WHAT YOU MADE THE SHOW FOR!!!!!! Hello??"

Another person vented, "How is it 'Golden' if his minimum age requirement is only like 10 years older than some of the regular Bachelor/ette contestants?"

One Instagram user -- who had been "so excited" for the new season -- complained, "This series is meant to be wholesome healing by helping a silent generation be seen and accepted. Drop or #DADcott."

"Dear Mel," wrote another person, "we don't want to date men 20 years our senior. Date a woman your own age. Hope this helps."

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Many commenters agreed ABC should "cut" Mel or "lose your viewers."

A disappointed fan commented, "Mel has alienated the core audience for the show, which will result in low ratings for the show and lost advertising dollars. Please replace Mel with somebody from [Joan Vassos' The Golden Bachelorette] season. The men are already fully vetted so that person can step right in."

More comments poured in about how ABC had "really screwed up" by choosing Mel to helm The Golden Bachelor.

"No one is going to watch this," a person wrote. "You virtually lost everyone over 60, your demographic for this show. Just what we need. More misogyny by an older white man towards beautiful older women. Huge marketing fail."

And finally, an angry follower insisted, "Better to recast and refilm than waste your resources on a season the audience won't be interested in watching, @goldenbachabc! We love how wholesome the show was. His ageism and sexism kind of ruins it."

While Reality Steve spoiler blogger Steve Carbone hasn't heard any specifics about The Golden Bachelor casting lately, he recently noted on his podcast how it's not too late for ABC to replace Mel as there has been very little promotion of his season to date.

Mel hasn't been interviewed on any of the Bachelor Nation podcasts, nor has he conducted many media interviews.

"He's done nothing," Carbone said.

"So I think it is possible [to recast] him. Not to mention anything he said, I just don't see any way in which you throw this guy out there as your Golden Bachelor. And if you're a woman [over 60] who was set to be cast on this season, why would you even show up?"

When Mel had told an executive producer that he wanted to date women between 45 and 60, the executive producer allegedly reprimanded him.

"[The executive producer said], 'Oh, no, Mel, you can't! This is not The Silver Bachelor. This is The Golden Bachelor,'" Mel recalled on the Michigan podcast.

"[He assured me], 'But they're going to be hot. Don't worry about it. Don't worry about it.'"

Mel also said the executive producer had told him that he can't use the word "cut" when speaking about The Golden Bachelor eliminations.

"I know they're going to be beautiful," Mel conceded. "I know they are, but I had no say in them. I had no resume."

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Mel shared how he also asked the casting team for a fit woman who stays in shape and likes to work out.

"And I told them, 'Try to stay away from the artificial hips and the wigs, you know, that kind of stuff, right?'" Mel said.

Mel added how he's looking for an energetic woman "who is a lifetime learner" and wants to live 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.

ABC shared that when Mel got divorced and had to grieve the death of his father, he channeled his energy into being the best father he could be and coaching their extracurricular sports teams.

The Golden Bachelor host Jesse Palmer told Us in late April how Mel was looking for genuine and lasting love, but not necessarily a fairy-tale story.

The Bachelor host insisted Mel is "just looking for companionship" in its purest state and listening him talk about wanting a lifelong partner is "really moving."

Jesse concluded, "So I think he's going to be a great lead. I think he's a great choice to be our next Golden Bachelor."

Mel will be following in the footsteps of Season 1 The Golden Bachelor star Gerry Turner.

Gerry had proposed marriage to his The Golden Bachelor winner, Theresa Nist, on the show's Season 1 finale in late 2023.

Gerry and Theresa, proudly showing off their love, rushed to the altar and got married in January 2024 for a televised wedding special on ABC.

Three months later, however, Gerry announced his split from Theresa and claimed distance was the problem.

Gerry filed for divorce from Theresa in April 2024, and then the pair's divorce was finalized in June 2024.

Since then, Theresa has said there's more to her breakup with Gerry than just the miles between them, and Gerry has claimed his early 2024 diagnosis with an incurable cancer had major influence over the pair's decision to part ways.

But Joan, the first star of The Golden Bachelorette, did, in fact, find her happily ever after.

Joan picked Chock Chapple as her The Golden Bachelorette winner on the show's finale in November 2024, and the pair is still happily engaged and making a long-distance relationship work.

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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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