Who is Mel Owens from The Golden Bachelor season 2? Details explored

The Golden Bachelor has been renewed for a second season, set to premiere on Wednesday, September 24, 2025. ABC officially revealed Mel Owens, a 66-year-old former NFL player-turned-sports injury lawyer, as the new lead.

The Bachelor Nation series will follow the same format, with Owens trying to find love and companionship in a partner who will support him in his golden years.

There are 23 women aged between 58 and 77 years participating in the show, all hoping to form a lasting connection with Mel Owens and ultimately be chosen as his partner.

The Golden Bachelor star Mel Owens' details explored

Owen's NFL journey started when he was selected as the ninth overall pick in the 1981 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams. He played as a linebacker through the 1980s. 

Recording an impressive 26.5 sacks and four interceptions, he solidified his reputation as a force in the league over his nine-year career.

Reflecting on his NFL career in an interview with the South Florida Tribune in 2024, Owens said,

"Two bookends. Everything in the middle is work. But I played with a lot of great players, I had a great time ... we built the NFL to where it is now. It was just before the TV contracts got big in the early 90s."

Born in a close-knit Midwestern family in Detroit, Met Owens started playing football in college at the University of Michigan, which showed his athletic passion from an early age.

Owens then moved to Orange County, California, following his retirement from football, where he received his law degree from UC-San Francisco after working at Merrill Lynch as a financial adviser. 

Now, Owens specialises in sports-related injury law, disability benefits, and workers’ compensation and became a partner in a California law firm (Namanny, Byrne & Owens).

After gaining success and satisfaction from his football career, Owens wanted to help people seeking justice for sports-related injuries, and that's when he found his first love.

He even has two sons from his first marriage of 25 years, as they got separated in 2000 following his father's unexpected death.

Describing life after the unexpected turn of events, Mel Owens focused on his fatherhood, concentrating on raising his sons and coaching their extracurricular sports teams.

Now, as The Golden Bachelor, he seeks to find someone with whom he can share his life's everyday moments, plan their future growing together, and rediscover love and companionship.

When the host, Jesse Palmer, asked him about what he is looking for in his partner, he replied,

"Someone that's honest, charming, loving, fit. Someone full of life because it's go time."

In June 2025, his appearance on a sports podcast, In the Trenches, from his alma mater, the University of Michigan, sparked a controversy when Owens said that he would cut the women who are above 60 years old and prefer to date women between the ages of 45 and 60.

He told the host, Jon Jansen,

"We had lunch with the executive producer. I said, You know, if they’re 60 or over, I’m cutting them. ‘Oh, Mel, you can’t, you know, this is not the Silver Bachelor. It’s the Golden Bachelor.’ ‘But they’re going to be hot, don’t worry about it.’

Apart from the age preferences, Owens also commented on the physical features of the women that he aims to avoid, sparking public backlash for his comments.

"Well, they've got to be fit because I stay in shape, should work out and stuff. And I told them, you know, try to stay away from the artificial hips and the wigs, you know, that kind of stuff, right."

He then acknowledged his words and apologised, calling them unfair and insensitive, explaining that there was a misunderstanding of the show's age rules and he had been out of the dating world for decades.

In the podcast, he revealed he is looking for someone who is a lifetime learner, enjoys life, eats, works out and stays fit and energetic while having a lot of fun in life.

Stay tuned for more updates.