The Golden Bachelor Season 2's Casting Choice Proves The Franchise Is Learning From Its Mistakes (Choosing Mel Owens Was The Right Move)

While Mel's time on the show could be as disastrous as Gerry Turner's turn on The Golden Bachelor season 1, the franchise is looking ahead to making some big changes to the show while maintaining one its fun quirks. Throughout Bachelor history, casting has been the primary issue faced by the show's production team. While the early days of The Bachelor featured men who were cast for the role, the show eventually moved to a model of picking from a contestant pool for its leads. Mel will be one of the few who's been cast specifically for the leading role.

The Golden Bachelor Season 2 Cast Mel Owens As The Lead

He's A Great Catch

Mel, a former NFL player who became a lawyer after his retirement, may not be as well-known as previous Bachelors, but his announcement as The Golden Bachelor season 2's lead was massively exciting. While there's a lot to learn about Mel in the coming months, the fact that the series took a chance on him already speaks volumes about his character. Deciding to go the route of casting an eligible bachelor rather than using a contestant from the previous season of The Golden Bachelorette wasn't exactly a surprise, but it also wasn't the expected move from The Golden Bachelor team.

Mel Was Cast For The Role

While I predicted that the next Golden Bachelor lead would be a franchise outsider and was hopeful I'd be right, I was also not interested in holding my breath for the Bachelor franchise. Over the years, things have changed consistently with the show in a way that I haven't been happy with, especially when it comes to casting. The Bachelor and its various spin-offs have suffered from issues in casting where the team is openly choosing someone they feel will be a safe bet, but not understanding that those contestants aren't going to pop as the leads on their shows.

With The Golden Bachelor having to cast traditionally rather than pulling from their pool of contestants when it came to Gerry, it gave the team a different way to look at what they wanted in a lead. While Gerry may not have been the best lead in Bachelor history, throughout the run of the show it was clear that he was charming, charismatic, and wanted to find love. Gerry's trajectory wasn't entirely positive, but the effort behind finding him was a great one, and without the drama added on, he was a great Golden Bachelor lead during the show's duration.

Choosing To Cast A Mostly Unknown Lead Was The Right Move

The Show Suffers When It's Too Contrived

Although not much is known about Mel in terms of his past or his expectations as The Golden Bachelor lead, it's clear that he was a good choice for the show to make as the season's filming gets underway. Mel may have had a somewhat public past, but he's moved forward into a more private present. After playing in the NFL for Los Angeles Rams for nearly a decade (which will surely come into play for a fun date in LA during the show, right?), Mel retired at just 31 years old and moved into a new professional space.