**PHOTO CREDIT | Disney/Maarten de Boer**

We’re settling in for another season of The Golden Bachelor as we watch Mel Owens find his way through his journey to find someone to love. This former NFL Rams’ player and Partner and Attorney at Law for Namanny, Byrne & Owens is on his quest for love and we can’t wait to see his season and how it unfolds. We have a bit of an expectation of how it will go as this is S2 but Bachelor Nation knows that each season tends to be its own snowflake of sorts!

It’s interesting that the episode started addressing when Mel talked about the fact that he wouldn’t want to date women of a certain age (over 60) - he even acknowledged it and we heard some of the contestants also weighing in. We’ll see who will go forward after the first elimination. The fact that he is fom Detroit and talked about his connection with Motown and being part of the community and how he came to football is an interesting nuance in terms of getting to know more about him. Hearing about his father passing as well as his wife asking for a divorce really lets us see where he’s at in life after raising his sons.

After getting his backstory, he’s finally about to meet the women and he takes a moment to chat with Jesse Palmer. The limos pull up and it’s great to see the women that we have heard about over the past few weeks.

We’re already excited about Carol (loved her look) and Diane definitely let it be knonwn that she heard the interview - he did say that he would like to chat with her more and to get the chance to know her. A number of women reference it and let him know that people over 60 are vital and worth knowing. Sandra from S1 of The Golden Bachelor, introduced Mel to her twin sister Andra who will be on this season! After seeing the women outside and spending time with him, the First Impression rose went to Gerri! The sun has literally come up as they are heading into the Rose Ceremony! 17 women will be going forward to the next phase - meaning that 6 are being cut.

THEY RECEIVED ROSES | Alexandra, Amy, Carla, Carol, Cheryl, Cindy, Debbie, Diane, Gerri, Monica B, Monica P, Mylene, Nicolle, Peg, Robin, Roxanne, and Terri.

THEY DIDN’T GET A ROSE | Andra, Lily, Lisa, Maia, Susie, and Tracy.

After a long night, the women are able to finally check out their rooms and settle in. Jessie lets them know that there will be 1 1-on-1 date as well as a group date. Cheryl gets to have solo time with him. Interestingly enough, we picked Cheryl as someone who would go to Hometowns before even seeing this episode and we think that we’re still on point with this prediction.

Cheryl is told that she needs to go to the other room where she is able to select a dress and diamond jewelry from Neil Lane Jewelry to complete her look for her date. Mel arrives in a tux and they make their way to the Rolls Royce he came to the house in.

They talk about her life, the fact that her ex-husband took her child for a period of time and how she forgave him. She received the Date Rose.

On the group date, they met at the original home of the LA Rams where Mel was in a Rams jersey and Paula Abdul appeared as the women will be cheerleaders. They are divided into 2 teams and one team will win and the other will go back to the house and not be able to have extra time with Mel.

The Blue Team ends up winning and they get more time with him. There amazing connections that you can see are being made and Cindy receives the Group Date Rose.

The next day, the women get to enjoy a pool party at the house which is important as there is a rose ceremony that will take place later that night. Nicolle continues to not only give him kisses in public, but in such a way that the other women are really starting to notice (versus when he and Cindy did so in a private moment).

THEY RECEIVED ROSES | Amy, Carol, Cheryl, Cindy, Debbie, Gerri, Monica B, Monica P, Nicolle, Peg, Robin, and Terri.

THEY DIDN’T GET A ROSE | Alexandra, Carla, Diane, and Mylene.

Each night during this season, we will tweet about The Golden Bachelor and you can chat along with us (@AthleisureMag + with our Co-Founder/Creative + Style Director, Kimmie Smith @ShesKimmie) to see what’s taking place!

Each week we will let you know who our faves were from the last episode and if we’ve changed up since then as it pertains to who we think should go to Hometowns.

We also suggest a podcast that we’ve become obsessed with over the past few seasons, Wondery’s Bachelor Happy Hour to get their feedback!

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