Mel Owens has been removed from a fan favourite of Bachelor Nation, and nobody is aware of that higher than his ex-wife, Fabiana Pimentel Owens, who didn’t have the perfect issues to say about her former husband’s new gig.
Mel, a 66-year-old lawyer and a retired NFL linebacker from Laguna Hills, California, was introduced because the Season 2 Golden Bachelor on April 2025. Nonetheless, lower than two months later, he confronted backlash for an interview he gave on the “MGoBlue Podcasts With Jon Jansen,” by which he claimed that the oldest girl he would date on The Golden Bachelor could be 60 years previous when the producers requested, “What’s your preferences?” “I simply mentioned, ’45 to 60,’ simply being trustworthy,” Mel mentioned on the podcast. “‘In the event that they’re 60 or over, I’m chopping them.’ This isn’t The Silver Bachelor, that is The Golden Bachelor.”
Associated: All The Golden Bachelor Season 2 spoilers about Mel
He continued, “[The executive producer] goes, ‘However they’re going to be scorching, don’t fear about it, don’t fear about it.’ He goes, ‘You’ll be able to’t use the phrase minimize,’ I am going, ‘That’s an NFL time period…’ They’ve received to be match, as a result of I keep in form and exercise and stuff. And I instructed them to attempt to avoid the unreal hips and the wigs.”
After his interview, Mel confronted backlash from Bachelor Nation, with Actuality Steve reporting that ABC was contemplating changing him because the Golden Bachelor. Mel apologized for his feedback in an interview with Glamour in August 2025, by which he recalled a dialog between him and a 65-year-old feminine buddy who referred to as him out.
“She mentioned, ‘What you mentioned was insensitive, and it’s simply not who you might be.’ My reference of courting was 39, 40 years previous. I hadn’t dated in 26, 27 years. That’s what I instructed her,” he mentioned. “She goes, ‘It doesn’t matter. You’ve mentioned some issues which might be simply extremely incorrect.’ And I am going, ‘I’ve received to apologize.’”
He continued, “I didn’t know something concerning the Golden Bachelor ages. I didn’t know the age vary as a result of I wasn’t watching it. I’m considering, to me, the age vary was 45 to 60. That’s my age vary. I’m considering that’s the gold years for me. My reference, once more, was after I was courting at 39, 40. I hadn’t dated in 26 years, so I had no clue. And that’s why I mentioned that remark.”
Who was Mel’s spouse from earlier than The Golden Bachelor?
Mel’s ex-wife is his “past love,” Fabiana Pimentel Owens, whom he married in Might 2002. Mel and Fabiana welcomed two sons—Lucas, born in 2005, and Andre, born in 2007—and raised their youngsters in California earlier than they filed for divorce from one another in February 2020, citing irreconcilable variations, in line with court docket paperwork obtained by Us Weekly.
On the time of the divorce submitting, Mel and Fabiana agreed on joint custody. Mel and Fabiana finalized their divorce in December 2024 after an nearly five-year authorized battle. In accordance with the court docket paperwork, Mel is nineteen years older than Fabiana, which makes her round 47 years previous on the time The Golden Bachelor Season 2 premiered.
In an interview with The Each day Mail, Fabiana revealed her opinion of Mel changing into the Season 2 Golden Bachelor. “Good luck. I imply, it’s going to be dangerous. However anyway, I don’t wish to be concerned on this,” she mentioned.
Host Jesse Palmer additionally instructed Us Weekly about what Fabiana and Mel’s sons considered their dad because the Golden Bachelor in an interview with Us Weekly. “I had an opportunity to go to with him and his children yesterday, and it’s actually a singular and particular bond to look at,” Jesse mentioned. “I believe he’s on this distinctive time now the place he can lastly focus slightly bit extra on it himself. His children are on the brink of go off to school, and I believe he actually needs to discover a particular individual.”
Who’s Fabiana Pimentel Owens?
In accordance with her LinkedIn, Fabiana works because the Director of Experiences and Most well-liked Resorts & Resorts in Corona del Mar, California. Earlier than that, she served as an Assistant Supervisor at Namanny, Byrne & Owens, based by Mel. She additionally co-founded Closing Contact Organizing, a home-organization enterprise she launched with entrepreneur Karine Schaefer.
“We take a holistic method in our enterprise, and that set us aside. I take advantage of Feng Shui to harmonize our purchasers with their surrounding surroundings. We consider that maintaining constructive vitality and stream whereas organizing helps our purchasers alleviate stress,” she instructed Shout Out SoCal in 2021.
Fabiana is from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Alongside along with her present profession, she additionally describes herself as a Reiki and ThetaHealing practitioner. The biography for her Instagram, which is now personal, additionally highlights her passions, which incorporates baseball along with her sons, journey, crystals, artwork, images, and holistic therapeutic.
