Mel Owens, the incoming leading man of senior-focused dating show “The Golden Bachelor,” said he will cut any women over 60 from his dating pool.
The 66-year-old, whose season of “The Golden Bachelor” is set to premiere this fall on ABC, revealed he disclosed his preference for the women he will date to be between the ages of 45-60 to the show’s producers, and if a woman is any older than that, she won’t make it to the end of the show.
“They asked me what your preference is, so I just said, 45 to 60, just being honest,” Owens said on sports podcast “In the Trenches.” “The process went and I was selected and then we had lunch with the executive producer [and] I said, ‘if they’re 60 or over, I’m cutting them.’”
Owens said the unnamed executive producer pushed back on his statement — saying “this is not the ‘Silver Bachelor,’ this is the ‘Golden Bachelor’” — while assuring him the women will be “hot.” The EP also resisted Owens using the term “cut,” which Owens said was a term used by the NFL, which he played in during his time on the LA Rams.
The NFL veteran-turned-lawyer added that the women must be fit as he stays in shape, and asked the producers to stay away from women with artificial hips and wigs.
“[I’m looking for] someone who’s a lifetime learner … love[s] life and workout and stay fit and eat and have fun and be energetic and live life,” Owens said on the podcast.
Owens follows in the footsteps of Gerry Turner, the inaugural “Golden Bachelor,” who got engaged to Theresa Nist on the show and eventually tied the knot to her on a telecasted “Golden Wedding,” though the pair divorced just months later. During that season, Turner, who was 71 at the time of the show, dated a group of 22 women in their 60s and 70s.
This fall, “The Golden Bachelor” will air its next season on Wednesdays from 9-10 p.m. on ABC, after new episodes of “Abbott Elementary” and before new episodes of “Shark Tank.”
The post ‘The Golden Bachelor’ Mel Owens Says Any Women Over 60 Will Get Cut From His Season appeared first on TheWrap.