• The Golden Bachelor season 2 premiered Wednesday, Sept. 25.
  • Mel Owens opened the show by addressing his viral podcast comments and apologized to the ladies.
  • Viewers remain skeptical as Mel continues on his Golden Bachelor journey.

The first night in the Bachelor mansion is usually a pretty light, frothy, and champagne-fueled affair. But the season 2 premiere of The Golden Bachelor started on a bit more of a serious note. After coming under fire comments made on a podcast, Golden Bachelor Mel Owens addressed his ageist comments at the top of the episode.

Mel found his Golden Bachelor status thrown into question after an appearance on the In the Trenches podcast back in June, in which he said that he didn’t want to date women over 59—despite the fact that The Golden Bachelor originally appeared to have a 60 to 70 age range. Oh, and he himself is 66. He also made offhand comments about how he wanted to “stay away” from artificial hips, wigs, and that the women on his season “got to be fit.”

Needless to say, this did not impress fans—and there were even rumors that Mel was going to be fired from the show. In the end, Mel apologized and kept the gig, but as filming had yet to start (cameras started rolling the week of July 22), he knew that all the women on his season would have something to say.

“I'm nervous the women are going to have misconceptions about me,” he said during the season premiere, via voiceover. “I messed up. I was wrong. Age doesn’t matter. When they walk out, I’m not thinking about age.”

Mel did get a lot of pushback from the women. Diane, 71, was the first to confront him when she stepped out of the limo. “You know what Mel, I gotta ask you, what the puck was that interview about on that podcast?” she said. (For the record: She’s a former ice hockey player, hence the “puck” pun.)

“You know, I sincerely apologize. It was unfair and unkind,” he responded.

the golden bachelor “201/202” mel owens begins his journey for love with 23 women embodying elegance and strength. after a dazzling queen mary date and a cheerleading showdown judged by paula abdul, the week ends with a sun soaked pool party and a high stakes rose ceremony. wednesday, sept. 24 (8:00 10:01 p.m. edt) on abc. (disney/john fleenor) diane
John Fleenor//Disney

Another woman, Terri, 71, even slapped him with her puppet.

Once all contestants had arrived, Mel addressed the group, no doubt hoping to quash the mentions of the podcast once and for all. “I sincerely apologize. It was insensitive, unfair, and I thought to myself, ‘What the puck was I thinking about?” he said.

He continued, “It’s truly a privilege for me to be the Golden Bachelor, and I hope you forgive me and let me earn it back, okay? Age is really just a number and spirit has no age, it really doesn’t.”

The women on The Golden Bachelor might forgive him, but the viewers at home are more skeptical. As one Twitter user pointed out, Mel (spoiler alert!) already sent home the only two contestants rocking gray hair, Diane and Carla.

Will Mel win over the contestants and “earn it back” for real? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.