Mel Owens regrets the ageist comments he made on a podcast over the summer.
The 66-year-old star of ABC’S The Golden Bachelor apologized on the show’s premiere episode Wednesday night for comments he made in June about his preferred age range for the female contestants on his season.
At the time, Owens said he would be “cutting them” if they were over 60.
The comments, which Owens said on the In the Trenches podcast, were met with criticism by many.
“I messed up,” Owens said on Wednesday night’s episode. “I was wrong. I replay it in my head a lot. I have regrets and I’m sorry for all the things I said in the podcast.”
He continued, “I know what a lot of people are thinking about me, but that’s not who I am.”
On the show’s premiere episode, a handful of the women who stepped out of the limo to meet Owens for the first time questioned him right away about the comments he made.
Diane, 71, a librarian and hockey player from Wasilla, AK, asked him, “What the puck was that interview on that podcast?”
Owens apologized to her and asked for a second chance. She replied and said, “Stick with me, I’ll keep you out of the penalty box.”
Carla, 62, a former model from Los Angeles, said that she’s “here to break all of your stereotypes about women over 60.”
Owens gave the first impression rose to Gerri, 64, from Rockville, Maryland.
Owens said he was touched by the story she told about her family and a letter she shared with him from her daughter.
Season 2 of The Golden Bachelor airs Wednesdays on ABC at 8 p.m. ET/PT and is available to stream the next day on Hulu.
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