Mel Owens has been far from a fan favorite of Bachelor Nation, and no one knows that better than his ex-wife, Fabiana Pimentel Owens, who didn’t have the best things 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 announced as the Season 2 Golden Bachelor on April 2025. However, less than two months later, he faced backlash for an interview he gave on the “MGoBlue Podcasts With Jon Jansen,” in which he claimed that the oldest woman he would date on The Golden Bachelor would be 60 years old when the producers asked, “What’s your preferences?” “I just said, ’45 to 60,’ just being honest,” Mel said on the podcast. “‘If they’re 60 or over, I’m cutting them.’ This is not The Silver Bachelor, this is The Golden Bachelor.”
Related: All The Golden Bachelor Season 2 spoilers about Mel
He continued, “[The executive producer] goes, ‘But they’re going to be hot, don’t worry about it, don’t worry about it.’ He goes, ‘You can’t use the word cut,’ I go, ‘That’s an NFL term…’ They’ve got to be fit, because I stay in shape and workout and stuff. And I told them to try to stay away from the artificial hips and the wigs.”
After his interview, Mel faced backlash from Bachelor Nation, with Reality Steve reporting that ABC was considering replacing him as the Golden Bachelor. Mel apologized for his comments in an interview with Glamour in August 2025, in which he recalled a conversation between him and a 65-year-old female friend who called him out.
“She said, ‘What you said was insensitive, and it’s just not who you are.’ My reference of dating was 39, 40 years old. I hadn’t dated in 26, 27 years. That’s what I told her,” he said. “She goes, ‘It doesn’t matter. You’ve said some things that are just incredibly wrong.’ And I go, ‘I’ve got to apologize.’”
He continued, “I didn’t know anything about the Golden Bachelor ages. I didn’t know the age range because I wasn’t watching it. I’m thinking, to me, the age range was 45 to 60. That’s my age range. I’m thinking that’s the gold years for me. My reference, again, was when I was dating at 39, 40. I hadn’t dated in 26 years, so I had no clue. And that’s why I said that comment.”
Who was Mel’s wife from before The Golden Bachelor?
Mel’s ex-wife is his “first love,” Fabiana Pimentel Owens, whom he married in May 2002. Mel and Fabiana welcomed two sons—Lucas, born in 2005, and Andre, born in 2007—and raised their children in California before they filed for divorce from each other in February 2020, citing irreconcilable differences, according to court documents obtained by Us Weekly.
At the time of the divorce filing, Mel and Fabiana agreed on joint custody. Mel and Fabiana finalized their divorce in December 2024 after an almost five-year legal battle. According to the court documents, Mel is 19 years older than Fabiana, which makes her around 47 years old at the time The Golden Bachelor Season 2 premiered.
In an interview with The Daily Mail, Fabiana revealed her opinion of Mel becoming the Season 2 Golden Bachelor. “Good luck. I mean, it’s going to be bad. But anyway, I don’t want to be involved in this,” she said.
Host Jesse Palmer also told Us Weekly about what Fabiana and Mel’s sons thought about their dad as the Golden Bachelor in an interview with Us Weekly. “I had a chance to visit with him and his kids yesterday, and it’s really a unique and special bond to movie,” Jesse said. “I think he’s in this unique time today where he can finally focus a little bit more on it himself. His kids are getting ready to go off to college, and I think he really wants to find a special person.”
Who is Fabiana Pimentel Owens?
According to her LinkedIn, Fabiana works as the Director of Experiences and Preferred Hotels & Resorts in Corona del Mar, California. Before that, she served as an Assistant Manager at Namanny, Byrne & Owens, founded by Mel. She also co-founded Final Touch Organizing, a home-organization business she launched with entrepreneur Karine Schaefer.
“We take a holistic approach in our business, and that set us apart. I use Feng Shui to harmonize our clients with their surrounding environment. We believe that keeping positive energy and flow while organizing helps our clients alleviate stress,” she told Shout Out SoCal in 2021.
Fabiana is from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Along with her current career, she also describes herself as a Reiki and ThetaHealing practitioner. The biography for her Instagram, which is today private, also highlights her passions, which includes baseball with her sons, travel, crystals, art, photography, and holistic healing.
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