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Behold: Dudius moronicus. An outlier in Darwin’s acclaimed survival of the fittest theory, this variety of the male species has managed to not only survive, but thrive in the world. Defying all sense of logic, this subset is chiefly characterized by their confidence — communicated loudly and regularly — yet more frequently than not, founded on nothing. Here’s a case study: Mel Owens, 66-year-old male, will be the next Golden Bachelor when the show returns for its sophomore season in the fall. As the title suggests, The Golden Bachelor is a spinoff in the Bachelor franchise dedicated to single 50 and 60-somethings looking for love. But GB Mel seems to think he’s the only one allowed to be of golden years age. He just shot his mouth off on a podcast about how he told producers he, a man of 66, didn’t want to date any women over 60. The more he kept talking, the more asinine it got:
When The Golden Bachelor first debuted two years ago, it was a pretty exciting departure for a franchise whose female winners are rarely over 30. It even inspired some seniors to give dating a shot again — a theme the show heavily leaned into. “It’s never too late to fall in love again,” the first Golden Bachelor, Gerry Turner, told Good Morning America shortly before his season aired.
But apparently that’s not how the show’s newest star sees it. Mel Owens, who will be the titular Golden Bachelor in season two, revealed in an interview earlier this month that he doesn’t want to date any women over 60. Speaking on the University of Michigan football podcast MGoBlue, Owens said producers asked him what his dating preferences were. “So I just said 45 to 60. Just being honest, right?” said Owens, who is 66.
Apparently, that age requirement is strict for Owens, who has been eligible for Social Security for four years now. “I said, ‘If they’re 60 or over, I’m cutting them. This is not the Silver Bachelor, this is The Golden Bachelor,’” he recalled telling producers.
Owens said they also must be “fit,” noting that staying in shape is important to him. “And I told them to try to stay away from the artificial hips and the wigs,” he added. Well then!
Pushed by the interviewer on what he was actually looking for, Owens kept it pretty simple. “Well, like I just told you,” he said, adding that he wants someone who is “energetic, a lifetime learner,” and someone who “enjoys to love life,” whatever that means. Oh, yeah, and someone who likes to “work out and stay fit,” he reiterated, in case that wasn’t clear the first time.
It’s a pretty cold outlook for a show explicitly created for “senior men and women looking for love.” There’s no specific age range required to be on the show, but most states define “senior” as over the age of 65 — which, again, Owens himself is. In the show’s first season, no contestant was younger than 60, and the oldest were 75.
What a tool! What a jackass! Pardon my swearing, but, you know, “Just being honest, right?” He makes Martha Stewart appear almost classy in her retort that she’d never do The Golden Bachelorette because the guys weren’t hot enough. Hotness can be judged at any age! And I must second The Cut’s question: WTF does “enjoys to love life,” mean? I guess Mel isn’t a “lifetime learner” himself, at least not when it comes to syntax. I am so utterly and thoroughly icked out by this Neanderthal. Interviewer: “What kind of love are you looking for from this experience?” Mel: “Woman. Fit. Young. Fit. Exercise. Fit. CAN’T BE MY AGE.” The man has well and truly shown himself, and I seriously hope it torpedoes the casting process currently underway. (But I’m not holding my breath, either.) When Rosie covered Jazzy Collins the other day, a reality TV casting director, (who is not working on TGB), Jazzy noted that authenticity is what they’re looking for in audition tapes, even if you’re authentically the “villain.” Was that the play with casting Mel Owens? Cause the one thing I’ll give him credit for, is that he is being genuinely himself; an honest d-ckhead.
If he’s rich, he’ll probably find a young girl. Her choice. Her problem.
Possibly, but the show isn’t called sugar daddy though 😅
True story, I dated for a decade a guy who was quite older than me in my 30ies and he’d be 67 now. I literally dumped him because I couldn’t see myself to care for his old ass when he retired. I ended up marrying a man much younger than me and who’s 40 now. Much, much better.
Self-entitled arseholes like him don’t want to understand that things go both ways. I hope he gets the only 59-year-old contestant 🤣🤣
I don’t trust any of these shows. I can see them setting this guy up as a villain with a redemption arc. By the end he’ll be madly in love with a woman who’s 71 and with 2 hip replacements.
I had a total hip replacement and I still ski black diamonds all winter long. What an ignorant misogynist!! Was it really that difficult to find an attractive man in his 60s without such pig-headed views?
It’s weird. I looked him up – high school, college, pro football player. Went into finance and business and law after. Divorced after 20 years. Seems like your typical country club douche. And then, his father played for the Negro baseball league, was a highly respected coach and was honored for his work on fighting racial discrimination. So, who knows?
Just had my total hip replacement last November & I’m back to swimming three times a week, daily yoga, and 10,000+ steps a day. Dude’s a jerk.
And here’s one for ya, Mel: I don’t date men with white hair. Ew. Or former football players due to the CTE possibilities. (totally kidding on the white hair thing, but you get my drift)
The reality is that this guy’s a total ass and karma will bite his.
My thought is more typical jock who never outgrew the adulation he got in high school and college. And if he played football at Michigan, probably continued to ride that wave with some nice cushy well paying jobs courtesy of wealthy alums.
Perfect take, Eurydice. It’s guaranteed.
Tell the producers you don’t do glamping and they’ll send you glamping. Tell them you don’t like pizza and they’ll send you on a pizza crawl. You don’t date 60+ with hip surgery? Guess who you’re eating pizza with on the way to the glamping site.
What an old putz. Hope whoever he chooses turns on him and dashes his old man hopes. He can go back to the gym to his one true love his reflection in the mirror!
Pretty sure he didn’t grow up with those teeth. Just sayin’.
This!
What a hypocritical self-centered idiot this guy is
that was my first thought. fake choppers
Thank you @randomthoughts! Came here to say that I (57) won’t date anyone without their own teeth.
Sorry Grandpa Gary!
He’s going to end up with only MAGA contestants with Mar-a-Lago faces.
I know people love these vapid shows but they always seem so toxic to me. I know, I know, blah blah escapism blah blah blah but given the moment we’re in this shit feels so regressive, soulless, and tone deaf. Plus the dude isn’t even hot. At least give the ladies watching some decent eye candy and not this fucking dweeb.
I agree, I have never watched any of those dating shows. The whole concept is just vile and mean-spirited. Proud to add that I have never, ever watched a minute of the vapid Kardashians. All those shows make me sad and make me fear for our humanity.
I really hope the casting director chooses no one under 60.
Yeesh. This guy is a walking Reddit “Am I The Asshole”subject-in-waiting…and they get some real doozies on there…
This jerk is a perfect example of why I, a 66 year old widow of twenty nine years with both my original hips, refuse to date anyone at all. Especially anyone in my age group because sixty something single guys are complete asses (I.e. the current political climate in our country). I am single and happy and enjoy the life I have built for myself. I do hope they don’t cast anyone under sixty just to screw with this moron.
I agree Nancy. I am 69, and haven’t dated in years because of the eligible men here in SWFL. Mostly Trumpers and they are looking for a nurse or a purse. I love my life that I have created with family and friends.
Btw, I am going to bet I can out “fit” most women 60 or under. I just finished my 15th solo 100 mile ultra race, still run masters track meets, and I am learning to tap dance. I have all my original parts, even on my face. Not bragging but just saying he wants a Mar A Lago woman, not any woman of substance.
Hate to tell gramps, I’m not yet out of my 40s and need a hip replacement already.
Yes, my cousin had a double hip replacement in her 40s and kept on riding horses (and breeding thoroughbreds). What an absolute d###head.
Good luck, Jeanette! Just had mine replaced last November & I swear, I am over the moon over it! I got my life back!
Ew!
I have two words for this delusional bro: old balls. And I bet they’re hanging low.
Hahaha. Old balls. I bet you’re right.
And he also has a five-head.
I’m mid forties and wouldn’t touch this dude with his walking stick.
Now Pierce Brosnan or Harrison Ford, even Costner, who are all older than this guy are waaaay more civilized.
Oh wow. So he will only date someone at least 6-7 years younger than him. Ew. Why do I get the feeling he will mostly be going for the 45 year olds? I hope they casted all 55-60 year olds just to spite him.
And make sure the most attractive, sporty ones have hip replacements. 😀
Men are gonna men
truly
Can they fire this guy for foiling the premise of the show? They haven’t filmed it yet, right?
As a 60-year-old woman, honestly, I would say he was too old for me. Does that make me a bad person?
I also have a friend (when we were in our 30s) who said she wouldn’t date men with children. True to her word, she didn’t. (Reasoning: The attention would not be on her, but on the children.)
People have preferences that they don’t air publicly — he did. And yes, he does and sounds like a raging ass****.
So I guess my friend and I are bad, too?
@HelenofTroy He can have his preferences just like everyone else but that doesn’t mean the women he wants are going to be available for him either. Hopefully he can accept that the thing is men like him usually don’t.
@cf86713
I totally agree! I should have also added I have a guy friend who is 62 who seems to be stuck (since his 50s) on only dating women in their 30s, early 40s. For the past three years, he hasn’t been able to get into a relationship. (I have also seen him hitting on younger women and it is painful to watch.)
F that loser!
Both my husband and I are 57 and we have hip replacements in last 3 years. Our quality of life has iimproved and we are both active and fit.
Sadly, this is the mentality of a lot of dudes, but the issue here is why cast him if he can’t go along with the premise at all? The whole point of the “Golden Bachelor” is to showcase a dating competition for people in retirement age who are either divorced or widowed and have adult kids and probably even grandkids. Women in their 40s and even 50s (yes, I know people do start retiring in their 50s) are still too young for this premise. They would make more sense for a version that focuses on middle aged dating — think divorcees with younger kids who are looking for another shot at love, or people who didn’t get to settle in their 20s/30s but want to. Of course, lots of potential bachelors for that premise would then want 25-30 year-olds instead, but that’s a whole other conversation. Still, the producers should have a found a guy willing to consider women his own age. As someone turning 40 soon, I would find it insulting if the finalists were two hot 45-year-olds because we are not generationally the same as this annoying guy.
This dude is no prize. Nada. Zilch. Zero.
I can’t believe anyone older would put up with him..I certainly wouldn’t waste a hip on him replaced or not.
Well I will not be watching that loser.
He’s fit at 66, allegedly so a women can be fit at that age as well.
I didn’t date for over a decade because of tools like him. Mr. Jaded had no problem falling in love with a 62 year-old when he came back into my life 10 years ago. He thinks I’m beautiful because he looks deeper than a pretty face and perfect body. He has helped me immensely through two bouts of cancer and doesn’t mind all my scars and concurrent ailments from chemo and radiation. I hope this guy gets shot down in flames by every woman he’s set up with.
He wants a hot 45 year old woman, but will she want him if she’s looking for a long-term relationship? In 20 years, she’ll still be vital but he will slow down a lot. How soon before he has a serious illness and needs help? Would he stick around if she became ill?
Women over 60 don’t want to be his “nurse with a purse” either. He wants them young, dumb, and spry enough to take care of his old ass. Gross.
Divorced after 20 years of marriage? Yeah, this guy spits on commitment. Also, I started perimenopause at 43. Since the beginning of this “journey” I’ve been quite blunt with men like this. I hope whoever he cons into dating gives him honest and strong feedback when he starts in with his douchery.
They might as well call it The Sugar Daddy Bachelor instead of the Golden Bachelor.
What under 60 wants to deal with his mess?!
🤣🤣🤣🤣 Seriously, guys like this are so damn sure they are “super-high-value” that they don’t know younger women are getting hip to this crap.
Stats say he’ll only have another good 10 years at best, so hopefully some woman is brave enough to endure and laugh all the way to the bank.
He was told to go on a pod and be a douche. Pr for a tacky show 101.
Clearly ABC didn’t media train this bag of bones… or he’s too arrogant to be taught. It’s not too late to recast him with someone people can root for.
“If they’re 60 or over, I’m cutting them. This is not the Silver Bachelor, this is The Golden Bachelor,” he recalled telling producers.
— What??
“Hotness can be judged at any age!”
— You sure, Kismet? What does a hot 104 year old look like?
It would seem that he has a pretty good opinion of himself. Don’t judge me, but his statement that he wants someone who enjoys to love life: I think he was wanted to say he wants someone who enjoys sex, but he didn’t want to come right out and say it.
Sandra Bullock is turning 61 at the end of the month.
Paulina Porizkova just turned 60 and has had 2 hip replacements!
And they’re both way out of this guy’s league.
Just saying.