Former Golden Bachelor Gerry Turner Reacts to New Lead Mel Owens’ Controversial Age Comments

Former Golden Bachelor star Gerry Turner reacted to the new franchise lead, Mel Owens, requesting that his contestants be in a strict age range.

“I think it would be unfortunate, and I really think he will have a change of heart in this,” Gerry, 73, told Fox News Digital in an interview published on Tuesday, July 22. “I think he will see the grace and the charm of women who are over 60 and the confidence they carry, and I think he’ll have a change of heart.”

Gerry was the inaugural Golden Bachelor when the reality TV franchise launched its senior version in 2023. ABC announced in April that Mel, 66, would be the next individual to take over the mantle, shortly before the attorney claimed that he wanted to cut any potential suitor over the age of 60.

“The people that I met in my season, I go through them, and it’s like, they’re all a gift. To have gotten to know them,” Gerry, who was briefly married to season 1 winner Theresa Nist, added to Fox News Digital. “Each and every one of them [brought] some unique characteristics to the show, unique characteristics to life.”

Gerry also advised Mel to “ignore the number” and instead focus on “the person” in front of him.

Mel revealed on a June episode of the “MGoBlue” podcast that he told producers his age preference was for a woman to be between 45 and 60.

“[I] had lunch with the executive producer. I said, ‘You know, if they’re 60 or over, I’m cutting them,’” Mel said last month, alleging that the producer told him that he couldn’t solely eliminate a woman because of her age. “[He said,] ‘Oh, Mel, you can’t, you know, this is not the Silver Bachelor. It’s the Golden Bachelor.’ He goes, ‘But they’re going to be hot, don’t worry about it. Don’t worry about it.’”

Mel further stressed that he wants to date a woman in shape without any “artificial hips.”

“His comments about anybody that’s had a hip replacement or has a wig or anything like that, I really don’t believe that the ABC producers in casting, particularly casting that I have a high level of confidence with, I don’t think they would be casting a person who has that shallow of a perspective,” Gerry said. “I think some of [his comments] require some context, and it may have been taken out of context and so forth.”

He added, “But bottom line is, I hope he does look at it differently because if he doesn’t, I think he’ll be cheating himself.”

While Mel hasn’t further addressed his now-controversial casting comments, show host Jesse Palmer has confidence that the former football player will excel in the Bachelor role.

“Mel is obviously super handsome. He’s very charming, he’s very intelligent, he’s very successful,” Palmer, 46, exclusively told Us Weekly in April. “He had this incredible pro football career and transitioned into becoming a successful warrior. I think while he’s had a lot of success professionally, there have been some hills and valleys in his personal life.”

The Golden Bachelor season 2 does not currently have a premiere date.