Bachelor Nation was officially introduced to Mel Owens — and got some insight into his past — on the Wednesday, September 24, episode of The Golden Bachelor.

The 66-year-old lead notes during the premiere that his ex-wife filed for divorce during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 — after falling in love with someone else.

“Well, it’s never good, right?” Mel told Us Weekly exclusively on Wednesday when asked about the situation. “But, you know, I’m never going to get in the way of someone’s happiness. If you want to find somebody else in a different phase in your life — it hurts — but I can’t get in the way of your happiness. And what’s your happiness may not be my happiness. That’d be a real conflict — you can’t stop somebody, say, ‘I’m over here now.’ You can beg and plead, but I’m fine. Life is short, and if you’re in love with somebody else, that’s fine.”

Mel and ex Fabiana Pimente, who share two sons, were married for nearly 18 years.

Despite the controversy ahead of season 2 of The Golden Bachelor, Mel Owens is hopeful that Bachelor Nation will tune in to meet his cast. “The women are great, and you’re going to see that they’re great,” the 66-year-old lead told Us Weekly ahead of the Wednesday, September 24, premiere. “They carry the show. They’re […]

“You live in the moment,” he continued to Us about how he coped with the split. “Plus, I had kids, so I had to think about them before me. So that was the main focus. And there were younger kids at the time — not infants, but teenagers. I let things work itself out, and it did. And have patience and understanding.”

When asked whether his former spouse will be watching his reality TV debut, Mel said he thinks she might catch at least a scene or two.

“I don’t know, but my boys told me, like, ‘Oh, she’s not gonna be watching.’ But everybody’s peeking,” he said. “I’d be watching [if it was her]! Everybody’s peeking.”

Mel later gushed about the contestants on his season, encouraging the audience to watch and get to know them.

Bachelor Nation hasn’t seen Mel Owens on TV just yet (unless you were a big fan of the Los Angeles Rams in the 80s), but Jesse Palmer assures Us that he was the right pick for the new senior lead. “Mel is obviously super handsome. He’s very charming, he’s very intelligent, he’s very successful,” the […]

“The women are great, and you’re going to see that they’re great,” he said. “They carry the show. They’re wonderful, and they’re feisty and smart, and truly, you’re going to see the passion from them. It’s a great, great show. Tune in and you’re going to see a lot of good things.”

Host Jesse Palmer has also spoken to Us about Mel, noting that the two former NFL players (turned Bachelors) had a lot in common.

“I thought the exact same way as Mel did back when I was the Bachelor years and years and years ago. When you’re playing football, you’re just always practicing, you’re lifting weights, you’re watching film, so you can go execute on game day,” Jesse said while on set with Us during the first group date of the season. “But telling Mel, ‘Look, there’s nothing you can do that’s going to prepare you for being the Golden Bachelor, and you just have to be yourself. You have to show the women the good, the not perfect, and you have to put your walls down as early as you can, because the women are the ones that are going to follow your lead. And the sooner you do that, the sooner they’ll do that as well.’”

For more from Mel, watch the video above. The Golden Bachelor airs on ABC Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET.