The Bachelor

Mel Owens has been in the media plenty of times over his life, which has seen him go from being a professional football player to a sports lawyer -- before signing on as the second "Golden Bachelor" on the popular television show.

The thing is, the sports figure landed himself in hot water in 2025, when he told producers he wasn't looking to date anyone over the age of 60 ... which caused a stir within Bachelor Nation.

We're going to check out what the television figure's done to make a name for himself prior to his appearance on the hit ABC series ... and see what he's said about his past comments.

Owens began his athletic career at the University of Michigan, where he served as one of the institution's linebackers for several years before ending his college career in 1980.

Mel brought his talents as a linebacker to the Los Angeles Rams, and he joined the team in 1981.

The professional athlete spent the entirety of his football career with the team, retiring from the NFL in 1989.

Following his stint with the Rams, Owens became a lawyer focusing on sports-related injuries and incidents ... he married and had two sons with a woman named Fabiana Owens in 2002, according to Us Weekly, and divorced his wife in 2020.

Owens' designation as the second Golden Bachelor was revealed to Bachelor Nation fans in April 2025.

The former professional football player will be following the first Golden Bachelor Gerry Turner -- who married and quickly divorced his own season's winner, Theresa Nist.

Jesse Palmer, who hosts "The Bachelor" and its various spinoffs, described Owens as a perfect candidate for the program in an interview with Us Weekly, where he said the former athlete had been through "hills and valleys in his personal life."

Palmer went on to describe Owens as a "great lead" and stated the lawyer "really wants to find a special person" through his involvement with the program.

The thing is, Owens upset much of Bachelor Nation when he was asked his dating preferences by show producers, answering he only wanted women within the 45-60 age range to appear on his season of "The Golden Bachelor," according to an interview for the "In The Trenches" podcast.

Mel stated he'd told producers he wanted all the women "to be fit" and asked them to stay away from "artificial hips and the wigs."

Owens later told Glamour he'd spoken to a friend about his comments regarding the age of the show's contestants, and claimed he didn't realize they'd "hit that hard" in their conversation, after which he wanted to publicly apologize for what he'd said.

Mel Owens is trying to make up for his insensitive comments about age as filming for "The Golden Bachelor" Season 2 gets underway ... revealing he apologized to all the ladies on the first night of shooting.

The reality TV star spoke to Glamour for an interview published Friday about a comment he made on a podcast in June, when he said he preferred to date a woman between the ages of 45 and 60 ... and, he said he told producers to "try to stay away from the artificial hips and the wigs, you know, that kind of stuff.”

The interview sent fans into a frenzy, and they called for his firing from the show ... which tipped Owens off to the fact that he'd said something wrong -- 'cause he admits until a respected colleague called him on the comments, he didn't see the big deal.

"The Golden Bachelor" Gerry Turner is weighing in on Mel Owens' turn as the star of the show -- saying it’s fair game to call out the new guy for wanting to ditch women over a certain age.

Gerry makes it clear to TMZ that Mel’s own 45-to-60 age-limit window -- and his intention to immediately axe anyone older -- is a bad look ... and he's urging the 66-year-old to be more open-minded about age and all the possibilities that can come out of it.

The TV star reflects on his own 'Golden Bachelor' days -- saying producers told him to stay receptive when he asked for women 65 and up. They promised gems on both ends of the age spectrum ... and turns out, they were right.

That's it for Bachelor Nation's Grant Ellis and Juliana Pasquarosa. The seemingly fairy tale couple has called it quits -- making their breakup official with respective social media posts.

They each shared heartfelt messages of their own confirming their split with the same overarching sentiments -- while they appreciated their time together ... they just weren't the best match.

On Grant's part, he said ... "We both gave this our best and poured a lot of love into each other, but after a lot of deep conversations, we've come to the understanding that we're simply not the right fit long term."

Kaity Biggar and Zach Shallcross are officially husband and wife ... TMZ has learned.

According to court documents, obtained by TMZ, "The Bachelor" alums tied the knot on May 23, 2025, in Texas.

The marriage comes more than two years after the pair got engaged during the season finale of the ABC dating show in March 2023. Zach and Kaitlyn -- known to fans as "Kaity" during her time on the show -- first met while filming season 27 of the series.

Filming for ABC's reality show "Bachelor In Paradise" has officially commenced -- bringing back familiar faces, host Jesse Palmer, bartender Wells Adams, and throwin' former "Bachelorette" Hannah Brown behind the bar as a new addition 🍹!

For the first time ever, the cameras moved from the OG Mexico location and picked up in a new hot spot -- Costa Rica!

Per social media, it looks like Palmer, Adams and Brown are havin' a hell of a time!

It’s that time of year -- temps are climbing, and so are the number of shirtless hotties flexing by the pool.

This guy’s serving serious abs and summer energy -- can you guess who he is? Here’s a hint: He once handed out roses on "The Bachelor."

Gerry Turner didn't find Mrs. Right on "The Golden Bachelor" ... but if at first you don't succeed, try again -- 'cause it turns out Gerry's taking another stab at happily ever after!

Turner tells TMZ ... he's got a new lady in his life, meeting her in a super modern way -- via Facebook.

The way Gerry tells it ... he gets a ton of Facebook requests, approving people he has many mutual friends with -- including a woman named Lana who reached out to him.

'Bachelor' babe Corinne Olympios loves a good pool moment, but her recent poolside photo shoot may just drown out all the others ...

The reality TV star -- who rose to stardom on Nick Viall's season of "The Bachelor" -- teased her 1.4 million followers, undressing by the pool and soakin' up that vitamin D!

Check it out ... Olympios stripped down, took off her crop top and showed off her slim physique in a black bikini.

She continued the shoot with a whole bun-cha sexy shots ... Here's a hot selfie exposing her bikini booty!

"The Golden Bachelor" is returning and the new leading man has a past life in the NFL.

Mel Owens was announced as the new 'Golden Bachelor' for Season 2 by ABC on Tuesday. The 66-year-old was selected as the ninth overall pick during the 1981 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams. He now works as a lawyer in Orange County, CA.

Owens was previously married and the two have two sons together, according to ABC.

Gerry Turner’s shutting down all those "Bachelor in Paradise" rumors -- telling TMZ he’s not about to swap his suit for swim trunks and hit the sands of Mexico anytime soon!

"The Golden Bachelor" star tells TMZ he turned down the offer 3 weeks ago when producers reached out to have him join the "Bachelor in Paradise" mix, which is throwing in some of their 'Golden' contestants alongside the usual beachy bunch for the first time.

Gerry’s main reason for passing is that he's basically been there, done that -- he tells us he already knows the women heading to 'BIP' and he's already established there's no romantic spark there.

From Nashville, Tennessee all the way to Nassau, Victoria Fuller showed up and showed out during her latest vacay .... sippin' wine and lookin' mighty fine in The Bahamas!

The reality TV star -- who appeared on Peter Weber's season of "The Bachelor" ... as well as the eighth installment of "Bachelor in Paradise" -- let her hair down and dove into her vacay with no fear!

Fuller swam with a shiver of sharks in the crystal-clear blue water ... and that was just scratching the surface of her action-packed bae-cation!

Kat Stickler's proving single life ain't all that bad ... 'cause she's living it up months after her breakup from former 'Bachelor' star Jason Tartick.

The YouTuber and influencer is regularly hanging out in tropical locales ... seen here lying back in an orange bikini on a recent trip down to Mexico.

Orange might be the new black ... but, sometimes the old black is just as good -- so, Stickler's also got this tiny bikini which she's featured in some of her other IG posts.

For today's "Foodie Friday," we're plating you with an excess of deliciousness and a wide range of hot 'n' cold dishes brought to you by 'Bachelor' star Matt James.

Phone eats first ... if you take a scroll through James' social media pages, you can't help but notice the mouth-watering food reviews, which he shares as he indulges!

No dish is off limits ... From ice cream to pizza to pasta ... this dude does not hold back from exposing all his fresh goodies and nudes noods 🍝!

Sean Lowe found himself in a tough spot -- literally -- pinning down his dog after it bit him for the third time, just to keep it under control while cops worked to free him from danger.

In the tense body cam footage obtained by TMZ, the "Bachelor" alum was on the ground for a few minutes holding down his snarling rescue dog, Moose -- telling cops that if he let go, the animal would lunge at him again.

It’s a nail-biting standoff -- Moose thrashes in resistance for a while before the scrambling officers finally get control ... after dodging a few close calls themselves, tasing the animal as Sean manages to escape the chaos.

Sean Lowe went through a traumatic experience -- revealing he was attacked three times by his rescue dog Moose only three months after getting him ... leaving him squirting blood everywhere.

He broke it all down in an IG video with his wife Catherine -- explaining while he was barbecuing with friends Thursday, he ran inside to turn off a fire alarm triggered by smoke … and that’s when the nightmare began.

Sean explained when he grabbed a towel to wave the smoke away from the alarm, Moose suddenly nipped his finger aggressively, then started sinking his teeth into his shoes ... before ripping into his arm.