{"id":81080,"date":"2025-07-17T13:32:39","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T17:32:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/?p=81080"},"modified":"2025-07-17T13:32:39","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T17:32:39","slug":"mel-owens-faces-backlash-over-age-comments-as-kathy-swarts-fires-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/mel-owens-faces-backlash-over-age-comments-as-kathy-swarts-fires-back\/81080\/","title":{"rendered":"Mel Owens faces backlash over age comments as Kathy Swarts fires back"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"text-token-text-primary w-full\" dir=\"auto\" data-testid=\"conversation-turn-62\" data-scroll-anchor=\"true\">\n<div class=\"text-base my-auto mx-auto pb-10 [--thread-content-margin:--spacing(4)] @[37rem]:[--thread-content-margin:--spacing(6)] @[72rem]:[--thread-content-margin:--spacing(16)] px-(--thread-content-margin)\">\n<div class=\"[--thread-content-max-width:32rem] @[34rem]:[--thread-content-max-width:40rem] @[64rem]:[--thread-content-max-width:48rem] mx-auto flex max-w-(--thread-content-max-width) flex-1 text-base gap-4 md:gap-5 lg:gap-6 group\/turn-messages focus-visible:outline-hidden\">\n<div class=\"group\/conversation-turn relative flex w-full min-w-0 flex-col agent-turn\">\n<div class=\"relative flex-col gap-1 md:gap-3\">\n<div class=\"flex max-w-full flex-col grow\">\n<div class=\"min-h-8 text-message relative flex w-full flex-col items-end gap-2 text-start break-words whitespace-normal [.text-message+&]:mt-5\" dir=\"auto\" data-message-author-role=\"assistant\" data-message-id=\"b48b5f27-4182-497c-82cb-9ac75beface9\" data-message-model-slug=\"gpt-4o\">\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-col gap-1 empty:hidden first:pt-[3px]\">\n<div class=\"markdown prose dark:prose-invert w-full break-words dark\">\n<p data-start=\"98\" data-end=\"510\">Golden Bachelor Season 2\u2019s new lead, Mel Owens, is under fire after making controversial remarks about the age range he prefers in a partner. The 66-year-old former NFL player recently said on the MGoBlue podcast that he only wants to date women aged 45 to 60, adding, \u201cIf they\u2019re over 60, I\u2019m cutting them.\u201d He further commented that his ideal woman must be fit and should not have \u201cartificial hips and wigs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"512\" data-end=\"898\">These statements sparked backlash from fans and Bachelor Nation members alike. Among them is Kathy Swarts, a standout contestant from Season 1, who didn\u2019t hold back. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Swarts, who is over 70, joked, \u201cIf Mel Owens met me\u2026 that line would just not even be in his mouth. It\u2019d be like, \u2018Whoa, I never knew someone could be this fabulous over 60, over 70.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"900\" data-end=\"1262\">Swarts added that while Owens may have spoken without thinking, she believes he\u2019s still genuinely looking for love and could do well as the show\u2019s new lead. \u201cI think he said something without really thinking about it. I don\u2019t think he meant it,\u201d she said. \u201cI think it\u2019s going to be a great season, unless I swoop in and take him away. In which case, show over!\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1264\" data-end=\"1610\">Mel\u2019s comments drew mixed reactions. Selling Sunset star Chrishell Stause criticised him for potentially ruining the show\u2019s wholesome vibe, and Season 1 lead Gerry Turner also weighed in, advising Owens to stay \u201copen-minded.\u201d Turner noted that limiting age preferences would have caused him to \u201cmiss out on amazing connections and friendships.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1612\" data-end=\"1797\">Even Owens\u2019 ex-wife, Fabiana Owens, shared her scepticism about his TV journey, telling the Daily Mail, \u201cGood luck. I mean, it\u2019s going to be bad\u2026 I don\u2019t want to be involved in this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1799\" data-end=\"1917\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">Despite the controversy, anticipation remains high for The Golden Bachelor Season 2, which returns this fall on ABC.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Golden Bachelor Season 2\u2019s new lead, Mel Owens, is under fire after making controversial remarks about the age range he\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":294,"featured_media":81081,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[30781],"class_list":["post-81080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrity-news","tag-mel-owens"],"reading_time":"2 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/294"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81080"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81080\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}