With The Bachelorette on pause, ABC is gearing up for its second senior to hand out golden roses.
ABC announced on Tuesday, April 22, that Mel Owens, a 66-year-old former NFL veteran-turned-lawyer, will star on season 2 of The Golden Bachelor.
“Born and raised in a close-knit Midwestern family in Detroit, Owens’ athleticism shone through from an early age,” the press release reads, noting that Mel, a lineman at University of Michigan, was the ninth overall pick in the 1981 NFL Draft.
Following nine seasons with the Los Angeles Rams, Mel retired and “transitioned into a career in law and moved to Orange County, California, dedicating himself to helping others — particularly those seeking justice for sports-related injuries.”
Mel subsequently met his wife, who was referred to simply as his “first love” in the announcement. They share two sons.
“While life took an unexpected turn with the passing of his father and the end of his marriage,” the press release read. “Owens channeled his energy into being the best father he could be, focusing on raising his sons and coaching their extracurricular sports teams. Now, after several years as a devoted dad, Owens is ready to rediscover a love rooted in the simple joys of companionship – sharing life’s everyday moments, making plans for the future, and growing stronger together as a couple. As the Golden Bachelor, he’s eager to meet someone who shares this vision and finally find that perfect teammate he’s been waiting for in his golden years.”
Season 1 of The Golden Bachelor, starring Gerry Turner, aired in 2023. The then-72-year-old got engaged to Theresa Nist during the finale, with the twosome tying the knot live on ABC on a special titled The Golden Wedding in January 2024. The pair announced their divorce three months later.
“I think from my side of it, my perspective, I withdrew from her,” Gerry said on “Bachelor Happy Hour” earlier this month. ”I felt like maybe I was a source of bad feelings and the negativity that came out of the show and so forth. So I kind of avoided talking to her and not out of, you know, ill will or being combative at all. Just, I thought it was better if we gave each other space.”
The duo also struggled because Theresa didn’t want to leave her family in New Jersey while Gerry remained in Indiana.
“If you eliminate that huge obstacle, I can see no red flags,” he continued. “I still don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t have worked out. But we were also so new to the relationship that we may not have uncovered that layer of the onion that could have been a problem yet.”
Gerry has since revealed that he is battling incurable cancer, but keeping his spirits high with a new girlfriend.
The first-ever Golden Bachelorette, Joan Vassos, meanwhile, made it clear from the beginning that she wasn’t going to permanently move from her family in Maryland. She found her match in Chock Chapple, who resides in Kansas, and they got engaged in November 2024. They make their relationship work by visiting each other and traveling together.
“We’re not together every single night. We’re still solid, we’re good. We don’t have to do that,” Joan told Us last year. “And I certainly want to marry this man. He is the person I wanna spend the rest of my life with. But the thought of planning a wedding right now sounds exhausting. And we have been so busy anyway and I don’t see an end anytime really soon and I don’t necessarily want an end to this. This is such an experience and it’s so rare for somebody our age to get these opportunities that I’m just gonna keep doing this until they stop asking. Planning a wedding seems like it would halt things and I’d have to concentrate on that and I don’t really wanna do that yet.”
While Bachelor in Paradise season 10 will air this summer, The Golden Bachelor will return to ABC later this year.
