New The Golden Bachelor star Mel Owens has revealed the advice Jesse Palmer gave him before filming began.
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Before The Golden Bachelor began filming in July, Mel told Joe Amabile and Serena Pitt during the September 23 episode of the "Bachelor Happy Hour" podcast that he had a meaningful conversation with the franchise's host.
"[Jesse] is obviously the host, so he sees everything, and when he was younger, he was the Bachelor. And he played football, too!" Mel shared.
"He played in college and then went pro, so we have a lot of things in common. He's actually married to a Brazilian gal too. My wife was Brazilian. So there are a lot of similarities there."
Mel therefore said he was "all ears" when Jesse offered up some tips and guidance.
"[He told me] to stay focused and know what's going on around you," Mel recalled.
"And he's in production too, right? So he knows all about the way it's produced, and he also knows football. He broadcasts football games and the Food Network. So he has a lot of experience in front of [TV} and behind it."
According to Mel, Jesse advised him "to be aware of things" during filming.
"And, you know, he gave advice along the way. Plus, he was on set a lot, so I got to talk to him. I had breakfast with him a lot," he noted.
Mel claimed he didn't date much after his divorce from Fabiana Owens. While Fabiana had filed for divorce in February 2020, the divorce wasn't finalized until December 2024.
Mel therefore explained how he prepared for filming The Golden Bachelor's second season.
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"No matter what you do, in any business, you have to have focus and you should study and know what it's about, especially something like The Bachelor," Mel said on the podcast.
"It's a long-running show, so you should be able to look back on some of the episodes and find out what happened."
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)
Mel admitted he never watched much of The Bachelor franchise.
"I hadn't seen it in a long time, other than [Grant Ellis]' season [earlier this year]," Mel said.
"And I hadn't seen The Golden Bachelor. But you don't really know about this --[although] they can tell you about it -- until you're in it. And when you're in it, it's just completely different than you thought it was."
Mel continued that he knew he needed to "have stamina, energy, and focus."
He concluded, "So I just focused more. And I knew I was going to go away for, you know, two months. I got my mind set ready from that standpoint."
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"Good luck," Fabiana told the Daily Mail, warning Mel's cast of senior bachelorettes.
"I mean, it's going to be bad," she insisted. "But anyway, I don't want to be involved in this."
According to court documents obtained by the Daily Mail, Mel and Fabiana tied the knot in 2002 and were married for 17 years before Fabiana filed for divorce in 2020, citing irreconcilable differences.
The former couple -- who welcomed sons Lucas, 19, and Andre, 18, together -- had a nearly five-year custody battle that ended with Mel having to pay his ex-wife outstanding child and spousal support.
When Mel was announced as The Golden Bachelor's Season 2 star back in April, ABC said Fabiana was Mel's "first love" in life.
ABC 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 BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)
Jesse told Us Weekly in April how Mel was looking for genuine and lasting companionship "in its purest state" and the attorney was "going to be a great lead."
But Mel sparked backlash when he said in June that he wanted his cast of women to 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 an appearance on the "MGoBlue" podcast with Jon Jansen.
Bachelor Nation expressed outrage and disgust over Mel's "ageist" and "superficial" remarks on social media, and there was a brief period of time when fans thought ABC was going to replace him as the show's leading man.
But ABC chose to stick with Mel, and production commenced in July.
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"Those [comments] were a mistake by me. It's unfair. It's insensitive," he told Glamour magazine.
"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."
ABC then announced Mel's cast of 23 The Golden Bachelor bachelorettes in early September.
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.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
