‘The Golden Bachelor’ star Mel Owens shared a painful confession about his ex-wife during the show’s premiere.
Mel Owens, a retired NFL linebacker, revealed that his wife, Fabiana Pimentel, filed for divorce in 2020 after she fell in love with someone else. The 66-year-old shared the heart-wrenching experience during the September 24th episode of the ABC show. Owens described the split as ‘the toughest thing I’ve ever gone through,’ highlighting the emotional turmoil he faced during the coronavirus pandemic.
‘In 2020, during the pandemic, my dad died. And then my wife filed for divorce. She had found someone new. I was shocked,’ Owens said. He emphasized the difficult journey of moving forward after the divorce, stating, ‘I haven’t really dated since.’ Owens attributed this to focusing on his children, who are teenagers, stating, ‘I had to think about them before me.’
Despite the emotional challenges, Owens expressed his acceptance of his wife’s decision, saying, ‘I’m never going to get in the way of someone’s happiness.’ He acknowledged the pain of the situation but made it clear that he would not interfere with his ex-wife’s happiness. ‘If you want to find somebody else in a different phase of your life, it hurts, but I can’t get in the way of your happiness,’ he stated.
Owens also addressed his controversial comments on age preference, where he initially requested producers to limit his dating pool to women aged 45-60. He admitted this was a misstep and apologized for it, explaining, ‘I had been married for 25 years and all my experiences at that time were just with my wife and the friends that we had. So I hadn’t experienced anybody outside of my wife.’ He also noted that he initially requested the producers to avoid casting women with ‘artificial hips and the wigs,’ but later apologized for that comment as well.
Despite the controversy, Owens expressed his commitment to the show and his ability to ‘earn it back.’ He also shared his own thoughts on whether his ex-wife would watch the show, saying, ‘I don’t know, but my boys told me, like, ‘Oh, she’s not gonna be watching.’ But everybody’s peeking.’ He added, ‘I’d be watching [if it was her]! Everybody’s peeking.’
Owens and his ex-wife, Fabiana Pimentel, were married for nearly 18 years and share two sons. Their relationship was marked by a long and public marriage, which he described as ‘the toughest thing I’ve ever gone through’ during the show. He also emphasized the importance of living in the moment and having patience and understanding during the emotional struggle.