“The Golden Bachelor” is officially coming back for a second season at ABC and Hulu. 66 year old Mel Owens, a former NFL player turned lawyer, will be the titular Golden Bachelor in the new season.
Owens succeeds Gerry Turner as the Golden Bachelor. Turner led the inaugural season of the series, which aired in 2023. Per ABC, the inaugural season averaged 10.4 million viewers in Live+35 multi-platform viewing.
Owens played college football at the University of Michigan from 1977-1980. He then entered into the NFL Draft in 1981, where he was selected ninth overall by the Los Angeles Rams. He played linebacker for the Rams for nine seasons and recorded 26.5 sacks and four interceptions in his career. Following his retirement from football, Owens earned his Series 7 license and worked at Merrill Lynch as a financial adviser. After that, he obtained his law degree from UC-San Francisco and now specializes in workers’ compensation, sports law, sports injuries and disability benefits.
“The Golden Bachelor” is produced by Warner Bros. Unscripted Television in association with Warner Horizon. A premiere date will be announced at a later date.
Turner ultimately picked Theresa Nist as the winner of the first season of “The Golden Bachelor,” and were married in a televised special on ABC in January 2024. They announced that they were divorcing three months later.
“The Golden Bachelor” was followed by “The Golden Bachelorette” in 2024. Joan Vassos was the inaugural Golden Bachelorette, as she was forced to drop out of the running in “The Golden Bachelor” after only three weeks due to a family emergency.
