Mel Owens is moving into the highlight as the latest star of “The Golden Bachelor,” however his current feedback about age and relationship have many followers questioning if he’s the precise man for the job.

The 66-year-old former NFL participant, who will lead the second season of ABC’s senior relationship spinoff, sparked backlash attributable to current feedback.

Mel Owens opened up about what he’s on the lookout for in girls who’re contemplating showing on his season, and he admitted he isn’t serious about relationship girls his age or older.

He went on to share that he advised producers from the start that he most popular girls between the ages of 45 and 60. “Simply being trustworthy,” he added.

Owens recalled a dialog with “Golden Bachelor” govt producers, saying, “We had lunch with the manager producer. I stated, ‘In the event that they’re 60 or over, I am chopping them.’ [They said], ‘Oh no, you possibly can’t. This isn’t ‘The Silver Bachelor,’ it’s ‘The Golden Bachelor.’ He goes, ‘However they’re gonna be scorching, don’t fear about it.’”

The candid remarks didn’t sit nicely with followers of the franchise, who took to X (previously Twitter) to specific their frustration.

“Beginning to clarify why he’s 66 and single,” one consumer posted.

One other added, “Mel Owens & @ABCnetwork @GoldenBachABC can take their ageist BS & shove it!”

Others known as out the double commonplace. “Wow, what an a–. Hopefully, nobody will watch. Jogs my memory of those current males who weren’t scorching, complaining to me that girls don’t age nicely,” a 3rd fan wrote.

“He doesn’t look like the sort for ‘in illness and in well being,'” one other X consumer stated as somebody requested ABC to “recast Mel Owens instantly.”

Owens is able to commerce the courtroom for candlelit dates and roses as he was formally introduced as the following “Golden Bachelor” earlier this yr throughout Hulu’s “Get Actual Home” presentation.

Owens, who hails from a close-knit Midwestern household in Detroit, turns into the second lead within the senior spinoff of “The Bachelor,” following within the footsteps of Gerry Turner.

The 66-year-old isn’t any stranger to chasing goals and catching them. He performed soccer on the College of Michigan earlier than being drafted by the Los Angeles Rams because the ninth choose within the 1981 NFL Draft. He went on to have a profitable NFL profession earlier than pivoting to regulation.

Now primarily based in Orange County, California, Owens has spent years representing purchasers in sports-related damage circumstances.

However regardless of a life full of athletic accolades and authorized victories, Owens’ proudest position has been fatherhood.

He shares two sons together with his “past love” and, after the passing of his father and the tip of his marriage, poured himself into being the most effective dad doable, teaching sports activities groups and exhibiting up for each milestone.

Now, he’s shifting focus to discovering a companion to share life’s subsequent chapter with. ABC describes Owens as somebody on the lookout for “the easy joys of companionship, sharing life’s on a regular basis moments, planning for the long run, and rising stronger collectively as a pair.”