New The Golden Bachelor star Mel Owens has shared what criteria he used to determine which woman should receive his coveted First Impression Rose on Night 1 of filming.
ADVERTISEMENT
Mel, a 66-year-old attorney and former NFL player from Orange County, CA, will star on Season 2 of The Golden Bachelor, which began filming in July and will premiere Wednesday, September 24 at 8PM ET/PT on ABC.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
Mel recalled meeting his cast of ladies on Night 1 of his journey to find love during the Tuesday, September 23 episode of the "Bachelor Happy Hour" podcast.
"[In terms of] the impression, it's like, 'What really hits you hard?' And you can say, 'Wow, that was really something different. That was really a different experience,'" Mel shared with Joe Amabile and Serena Pitt on the podcast.
ADVERTISEMENT
Mel suggested that he was looking for a stand-out, memorable entrance or first conversation.
"I really wasn't looking for the [best] first impression other than feeling it," Mel explained. "And when you feel it, you go, 'Oh, that's the person!'"
Mel, however, insisted that his entire cast of bachelorettes was "impressive" that first night.
"They all had great stories and were very sophisticated and accomplished. So it was hard to say, 'That's the one,' except for on that night. [I knew], 'That was the one,'" Mel shared.
"So, it's a special feeling, and that's why the person gets the First Impression Rose."
ADVERTISEMENT
When Serena joked about how Mel was never going to fall in love with every woman in his cast, he quipped, "You probably could -- but to what extent?"
"Because they're all amazing," he elaborated.
"But, you know, there are different personalities and they come from different parts of the country and they have different backgrounds. And you're looking for someone who matches with you, and sometimes it does [or doesn't]."
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)
ABC announced Mel's cast of 23 The Golden Bachelor bachelorettes in early September.
ADVERTISEMENT
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.
Mel said on the "Bachelor Happy Hour" podcast that he was looking for an energetic and adventurous woman who is a lifetime learner.
Earlier this summer, fans speculated Mel -- who was announced as The Golden Bachelor's Season 2 star in April -- was going to be replaced as Season 2's lead after he had made controversial comments about wanting 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 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.
ADVERTISEMENT
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.
"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."
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)
Interested in more The Bachelor news? Follow our Bachelor Nation News Page on Facebook or join our The Bachelor Facebook Group!