Of all the inflammatory isms out there, the most shocking one for a Golden Bachelor to be accused of is ageism. That's what happened to Mel Owens, 66, in a preseason controversy, so you might expect him to be a little defensive on the subject. But when the former NFL player sat down with Us, he was remarkably relaxed, maintaining the off-the-cuff energy that may have gotten him in hot water in the first place. For context: Over the summer, the divorced Owens guested on a University of Michigan (his alma mater) football podcast called "In the Trenches" and mentioned some of the specifics he'd requested from producers of The Golden Bachelor: He wanted the women of his senior season to be between 45 and 60 and "fit," with no "artificial hips" or "wigs." And he added that anyone 60 and up would be cut. The comments - a far cry from the "it's never too late for a second chance at love" vibe of OG Golden Bachelor Gerry Turner's season - spread quickly, with some members of Bachelor Nation calling for Owens to be fired immediately over his disrespectful remarks. Longtime Bachelor spoiler guru Reality Steve even falsely reported that Owens had been replaced. "I'm not really on social media, so I didn't even know. People were sending me screenshots and saying, 'Oh, my God, are you still there?' And I go, 'I am,' because I didn't hear anything to the contrary," Owens tells Us of the replacement chatter. "But I really didn't give it too much thought, because that's noise in the background. ABC and Warner Bros. believed in me, and I'm glad they did." Mel Owens Jokes About Getting Roasted by 'Golden Bachelor' Women: 'Brutal' In some ways, it's not hard to see why the show stuck with Owens: In person, he's charming, good-looking and has a Midwest background that fits the mold of the audience. In his late 30s, he traded in his football cleats to start law school, and in his 40s, a family. (He has two sons: Lucas, 20, and Andre, 18.) But even without the controversy, he's making it plain that he didn't sign on to follow the typical Bachelor trajectory. DISNEY/BRIAN BOWEN SMITH Will he end up in love with more than one person? He almost scoffs at the idea despite its frequent occurrence on the long-running franchise. "No, I'm not gonna fall in love twice," he tells Us. "Conflict is good for the show but not good for the heart." Will he get engaged? Certainly not just because the format seems to dictate it! "I told the producers, 'I'm here with an open heart and open mind,'" he says. "But it's a two-way street. Just because I want to get engaged doesn't mean they want to get engaged. They might want to date, like, 'You're cool. Let's just hang out.'" Will he say "I love you" at all? Hard to tell. "It's gotta be a true feeling," he says. "You just can't say the words because then they'd be hollow. I can say, 'I really like you,' and that's meaningful. To fall in love, it takes some time." Mel Owens Reveals Whether He Thinks His Ex-Wife Will Watch 'Golden Bachelor' All those breaking-the-mold intentions just make Us even more intrigued. As season 2 of The Golden Bachelor nears the finish (ABC, Wednesdays, 9 p.m.), Owens opens up about what viewers haven't seen - and previews the final weeks of his journey. Mel's Backstory Brian Bowen Smith/Disney Owens was a unique pick to lead the season from the get-go. Unusually for the franchise, he came from outside Bachelor Nation. And he was divorced. (Turner and Golden Bachelorette Joan Vassos had both been widowed.) In fact, Owens didn't tie the knot until he was 43. "I wasn't going to get married when I was playing [football]," he explains, and after he retired from the NFL, all his energy shifted to law school. "I met a lot of great women and girlfriends along the way that ended up being great wives [to someone else]." Prior to settling down, Owens got to live the perks of being a pro football player for nine seasons as a linebacker on the Los Angeles Rams, crossing paths with the likes of Nicolas Cage, Brad Pitt, Tori Spelling, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Robin Thicke, the Brat Pack and more at parties at the Playboy Mansion. "You got invitations, and then you'd go and all the celebrity guys would be there, with everybody ooh and aahing," he recalls. In 2002, he married Fabiana Owens. She filed for divorce in 2020 and, as he put it on the show, fell in love with somebody else. "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," he says of his ex moving on. How did he cope? "You live in the moment," he continues. "Plus, I had kids, so I had to think about them before me. I let things work themselves out. I have patience and understanding." Was Owens always this rational? Ever since he set foot on the gridiron, apparently. "In football, they're always trying to trick you. There's a lot of commotion going on, a lot of noise," he says. "When things are crazy, I