Golden Bachelor Mel Owens Dumped by Fan-Favorite Amid Reports Show Regrets Casting Star

One woman has taken herself out of the running to receive Golden Bachelor star Mel Owens’ final rose.

Fan-favorite Carol Freeman-Branstine made the decision to back out of the competition just before hometown dates, because Owens, 66, did not offer her a one-on-one date.

“I don’t feel like I’ve had enough time with him,” Freeman-Branstine, 63, said during the Wednesday, October 15 episode. “I need to connect more.”

The pair stepped away from the group date to enjoy a chakra clearing practice. During a confessional, however, Freeman-Branstine admitted to feeling conflicted.

“I’m thinking the whole time, ‘He has no idea that I have to talk to him,’” she said. “I’m at a crossroads. I am. I mean, my headspace is like, ‘Do I stay? Do I go?’”

“I don’t think he’s my guy,” she added.

The shocking self-elimination comes on the heels of reports that ratings for the spinoff series are “plummeting” with the former pro football player as the lead.

“He wasn’t the right pick and [producers] see that now but didn’t see it until it was too late,” a source told The U.S. Sun on Tuesday, October 14.

Prior to the season premiere, Owens came under fire for comments made during an appearance on a June episode of the In the Trenches podcast regarding his expectations for the women, including a strict age range of 45 to 60, and no “artificial hips and the wigs.”