Golden Bachelor curse strikes again as Mel Owens, 67, is dumped by Peg Munson, 63… after NFL star’s past dismissal of women over 60

The Golden Bachelor alumna Peg Munson announced that she has split from Mel Owens, whose heart she won on the reality show last year.

Owens, 67, a onetime linebacker for the Los Angeles Rams, was wreathed in controversy when he fronted the 2025 season of the show.

Before his episodes even began, he set off an online furor by declaring on a podcast that he was uninterested in dating anyone over 60, despite being 66 himself.

Nevertheless Munson, who was 62 years old at the time, emerged as as the recipient of the ex-NFL star’s final rose when their season concluded last November.

Nearly one year later, she disclosed in an Instagram this Wednesday that she had taken ‘the difficult decision to step away from the relationship.’

Munson, 63, a retired Las Vegas firefighter, apologized to fans for not having ‘spoken out sooner,’ adding that ‘it’s been a really difficult 30 days for me.’

She noted that ‘as a lot of you guys know, I went on The Golden Bachelor hoping to find love and I did, and for that, I’m grateful.’

Referring to her split from Owens, she reflected that ‘sometimes even when there’s love, it just doesn’t turn out the way we hoped.’

Munson said she was ‘focusing on healing my heart and just focusing on myself, my health and looking forward to the next chapter. I really do just really wish Mel the best of luck and I’m very grateful for the experience. I’m grateful for the memories.’

In her caption, she thanked her public for their ‘kindness’ and wrote: ‘This is not the end of my story. It’s the beginning of a new chapter.’ 

Munson won last year’s season of The Golden Bachelor after fellow finalist Cindy Angelcyk Cullers dumped Owens over his unwillingness to promptly propose.

‘He’s not interested in making any type of commitments for several years,’ she said. ‘I’m in my golden years. I’m 60 years old, and I’m not interested in being put on hold.’

Owens confessed himself ‘shocked’ at Cullers’ walkout and shortly thereafter gave Munson his final rose, which was accompanied by 3.5-carat Neil Lane diamond ‘commitment ring’ rather than an engagement. 

His season had begun under a cloud of scandal after he went on a podcast and said his preferred dating age range was ’45 to 60, just being honest.’

Owens recalled going to lunch with an executive producer on The Golden Bachelor and informing him: ‘If they’re 60 or over, I’m cutting them. This is not The Silver Bachelor, this is The Golden Bachelor,’ on the podcast MGo Blue.

‘They’ve got to be fit, because I stay in shape and work out and stuff. And I told them to try to stay away from the artificial hips and the wigs,’ Owens added.

His remarks drew such furious opprobrium on social media that there were ultimately unheeded fan calls for his season to be scuttled altogether.

Owens was previously married to Fabiana Pimentel, 47, from 2002 until 2020 and welcomed two sons into the world with her, Lucas, 21, and Andre, 19.

When The Daily Mail approached Fabiana for comment on Owens being named The Golden Bachelor, she witheringly responded: ‘Good luck. I mean, it’s going to be bad. But anyway, I don’t want to be involved in this.’ 

Munson and Owens’ breakup comes two years after the sensational divorce of another couple from The Golden Bachelor, Gerry Turner and Teresa Nist.

Turner proposed to Nist at the end of the reality show’s inaugural season in 2023, only for their marriage to implode three months after they exchanged vows

Last year, Turner drew brickbats from fans over the blistering jibes he took at Nist while promoting his memoir The Golden Years to Us Weekly. 

Turner, who is now engaged to retired teacher Lana Sutton, intimated Nist had not gone on the show for ‘the right reasons.’

When he was asked whether he was nervous of her reading his autobiography, he replied: ‘I’m not worried; I think she should be worried.’ 

He also took issue with Nist for insisting on retaining her finance career, despite having previously told him she was willing to retire for the sake of a relationship.

‘On the show, I asked Theresa if she was ready to quit her job. She said: “When I meet the right guy, I’m ready to end my career.” What I heard was: “There is a woman who’s going to be willing to travel, to have some adventure to do, some things that I consider and that we should consider fun,”‘ said Turner.

‘And then after the show, she always went back to: “Well, I really want to keep working.” And that just pretty much makes it an impossible situation.’