When it comes to controversial pop culture topics, you know the co-hosts over at The View are going to have an opinion. That is certainly the case regarding the drama that’s already circulating over the lead of The Golden Bachelor Season 2, which is set to premiere on the 2025 TV schedule later this year. Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar and the rest of the panel had some pretty strong thoughts about 66-year-old Mel Owens not wanting to date women his age.
Mel Owens, a former NFL linebacker, said on a podcast in June that before he was cast on The Golden Bachelor, he told producers he would eliminate any women “60 or older” from his season and that he also didn’t want anyone with artificial hips or wigs. Joy Behar took a psychological approach to the comment, saying:
I mean, I understand what he’s saying. You know, men are afraid to die. We are too, nobody likes to die. Men always like a younger woman to give them this feeling that they’re going to live forever.
Sara Haines countered that it really wasn’t that deep, and men just wanted younger women “because of their boobs.” Alyssa Farah Griffin seemed willing to give Mel Owens a chance, given the fact that we haven’t actually seen him do anything in the ABC reality dating franchise yet, but it sounds like she’s wary of what’s to come, given what she’s seen so far:
I will give Mel a little bit of time, we haven’t gotten to see him yet, but it sounds like a man can be a dog at 66 as well as his 20s. … I’m not sure he’s here for the right reasons.
Joy Behar seemed to agree with that, saying it sounded like he just wanted “to get a little on the side,” in reference to his comments about not wanting someone with fake hips.
Sunny Hostin said there may be one aspect that Mel Owens hasn’t considered about aging women and then posed one question about his stated preference of dating women as young as 45. Hostin said:
I take exception to the artificial hips, because when you get your knees done or your hips done, you’re bionic, and you can do things your other hips and knees couldn’t do before. So he’s a little wrong about that, and I also question, at 66 he’s cutting off people at 60, but he’s open to people at 45? What 45-year-old wants him? I don’t know. It’s ridiculous.
When Joy Behar pointed out that Mel Owens probably has money, Sara Haines said these arguments about age and money and appearance are nothing new, and she echoed OG Golden Bachelor Gerry Turner’s advice to keep an open mind. In Haines’ words:
These tropes have been going on forever. People have dated for money. A lot of time it’s blamed on the women dating for a certain income, and then you have men dating for a certain age, or a size. So he said that part out loud. I think I would encourage him to be open to, oftentimes you think you know what you want, and it rarely comes in that form, so just keep your eyes open.
Whoopi Goldberg stayed mostly quiet through the discussion about The Golden Bachelor, but she put the period at the end of the sentence by invoking karma — and the Lord — as she said:
I think somebody who played in the NFL should not be talking about what he doesn’t want. Because you’ve been hit enough, your body’s beat to poop. What you don’t want is what you’re gonna get. That’s how God works.
It will certainly be interesting to see what happens when The Golden Bachelor premieres. ABC has released bios for 25 potential contestants on Mel Owens’ season, ranging from age 58 to 77. Only three women fit Owens' “45 to 60” criteria, with one 58-year-old and two 60-year-olds. Eight of his 25 potential women are his age or older.
We’ll have to see what the final cast looks like, and what the ladies on The View think after The Golden Bachelor Season 2 premieres. If you want to tune in, it all starts at 8 p.m. ET Tuesday, September 24, on ABC and streaming the next day with a Hulu subscription.
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