The Golden Bachelor Names Former NFL Player Mel Owens as Its New Leading Man for Season 2

• ABC announced Mel Owens as the new Golden Bachelor for season 2 of the reality dating show on Tuesday, April 22
• Owens used to play professional football before focusing on a career in law. He also has two sons with his ex-wife
• The network also revealed that former Bachelorette Hannah Brown will join season 10 of Bachelor in Paradise, bringing her bubbly personality to rose ceremonies in the all-new Champagne Lounge

Bachelor Nation will stay golden with its newest Golden Bachelor.

ABC announced on Tuesday, April 22, that Mel Owens will take the lead as the next Golden Bachelor when the dating series returns. This comes after Gerry Turner served as the inaugural Golden Bachelor in 2023 and Joan Vassos handed out roses as the first Golden Bachelorette last year.

Owens, 66, played in the NFL before becoming a lawyer. He graduated from the University of Michigan and was selected as the ninth overall pick in the 1981 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams. After retiring from football, Owens moved to Orange County, California and began practicing law, aiming to help clients seek justice for sports-related injuries.

According to a press release from ABC, Owens met his first love during his time working in the legal field. They got married and had two sons together.

When the death of Owens’ dad coincided with the end of his marriage, he decided to devote himself to being the best father he could and began focusing on raising his sons and coaching their extracurricular sports teams.

Now, Owens wants to turn some attention back on himself. Per ABC, Owens hopes to rediscover a love “rooted in the simple joys of companionship — sharing life’s everyday moments, making plans for the future and growing stronger together as a couple.”

“As the Golden Bachelor, he’s eager to meet someone who shares this vision and finally find that perfect teammate he’s been waiting for in his golden years,” the press release reads.

ABC also revealed on Tuesday, April 22, that former Bachelorette Hannah Brown will join host Jesse Palmer and bartender Wells Adams on the upcoming season of Bachelor in Paradise in Costa Rica. She will be “bringing the bubbly to rose ceremonies in the all-new Champagne Lounge,” according to the network.

Brown, 30, first looked for love on Colton Underwood’s season of The Bachelor before handing out roses on her own season in 2019. She got engaged to Jed Wyatt on the show, but they ended things by the time After the Final Rose aired due to questions about his past. The Mistakes We Never Made author has since found love with Adam Woolard, whom she got engaged to in August 2023.

Season 10 of Bachelor in Paradise will be the first time the show films in Costa Rica; the series previously shot in Mexico, most recently at the Playa Escondida resort in Sayulita.

As previously announced, for the first time ever, Golden contestants will be looking for love in Paradise this summer. Leslie Fhima, Turner’s runner-up from The Golden Bachelor, and Golden Bachelorette fan favorite Gary Levingston will be heading to the beach alongside Bachelorette alums Jonathon Johnson and Hakeem Moulton, as well as The Bachelor’s Zoe McGrady.