\n\t\t\t
\n Related: <\/span>Golden Bachelor’s Debbie Explains Why Connection With Mel Is Such a Good Fit<\/span><\/a>
\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n\t\t\tThe Golden Bachelor finalist Debbie Siebers found a one-in-a-million connection with Mel Owens. \u201cMel is so amazing. I just adore him,\u201d Debbie, 65, exclusively told Us Weekly at the Golden Bachelor Gal\u2019s Brunch on Thursday, October 16. \u201cWe just have this really natural, comfortable connection. We\u2019re both from the Midwest, and it just seems to [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Dakota subsequently told the cameras: \u201cI\u2019m asking Mel some pretty direct questions, his responses aren\u2019t necessarily putting me at ease.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut if you don\u2019t get there with any of these women, are you going to say, \u2018Would you still like to date after this?\u2019\u201d she asked Mel before pressing: \u201cThe goal at the end of this is you\u2019re supposed to get down on one knee and propose to someone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n![\"Golden](\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Golden-Bachelor-Mel-Owens-Picks-Final-2-Sends-Home-Debbie-Who-Opened-Up-About-Ex-s-Suicide-at-Hometowns-178150_8661_RD1.jpg?w=1000&quality=47&strip=all\")
<\/div>Disney\/Ricky Middlesworth<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u201cMy goal is to find someone \u2014 that\u2019s the goal,\u201d he replied. \u201cWhatever that means.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Dakota asked again, \u201cAre you actually looking for someone?\u201d Mel tried to assure her: \u201cIf I wasn\u2019t serious about it, I wouldn\u2019t be here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mel traveled to see Debbie in Colorado next, with the fitness professional getting deep during their trip to Red Rocks and revealing that her last relationship in her early 50s ended in tragedy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew he had a little bit of depression, but he hid a lot from me. Within, maybe, six months, I just started seeing this behavior and it was pretty heavy. I had tried breaking up with him a couple times, but I could never because I loved him so much,\u201d Debbie explained to Mel. \u201cIt was like I couldn\u2019t live with him and without him. I was completely conflicted.\u201d<\/p>\n
Debbie and her then-boyfriend saw his therapist together and she ended it with the professional\u2019s help. \u201cThe horrible thing is, he took his life,\u201d Debbie recalled to Mel. \u201cIt altered me forever.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mel supported Debbie at the time, assuring her that there is no way she could have predicted what happened with her ex.<\/p>\n\n![\"Golden](\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Golden-Bachelor-Mel-Owens-Picks-Final-2-Sends-Home-Debbie-Who-Opened-Up-About-Ex-s-Suicide-at-Hometowns-178150_6516_RD2.jpg?w=1000&quality=78&strip=all\")
<\/div>Disney\/Ricky Middlesworth<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nMel\u2019s final hometown date was with Cindy where he met the retired biomedical engineer\u2019s three daughters. While her son-in-laws were more interested in talking about college football with Mel, one of Cindy\u2019s daughters took more of a cue from Peg\u2019s daughter Dakota.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s dated and she\u2019s had some really great guys, but they\u2019re just not \u2018the guy.\u2019 It\u2019s really important for her that whatever is next is for the rest of her lifetime. Do you see that with my mom? Is that kind of where you guys are at in the experience?\u201d she asked Mel.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know. I like your mom a lot. I don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to unfold in the next few weeks or months or whatever,\u201d Mel confessed. \u201cI\u2019m letting it come naturally.\u201d<\/p>\n
Worried that Mel was being a little \u201ctight-lipped\u201d or \u201cunsure\u201d about his future with her mom, she admitted in a confessional, \u201cI don\u2019t think that he really gave a lot of straight answers. I\u2019m a little bit worried about the long-term relationship that I know my mom wants.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cindy, for her part, got emotional while informing her daughter about her strong feelings for Mel.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\n![\"Golden-Bachelor-Carol-178150_1668_RD2\"](\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Golden-Bachelor-Carol-178150_1668_RD2.jpg?crop=0px%2C141px%2C1334px%2C754px&resize=400%2C225&quality=70&strip=all\")
<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\n\t\t\t
\n Related: <\/span>Golden Bachelor’s Carol Breaks Down Her Early Exit: ‘Tough Decision’<\/span><\/a>
\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n\t\t\tThe Golden Bachelor star Carol Freeman-Branstine is explaining the reason behind her decision to leave Mel Owens\u2019 season early. \u201cIt was a tough decision, it really was,\u201d Carol, 63, exclusively told Us Weekly at the Golden Bachelor Gal\u2019s Brunch on Thursday, October 16. \u201cI never really been the one that leaves, so it was a [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not going to big L you unless you\u2019re there with me,\u201d she cautioned.<\/p>\n
She later told Mel, \u201cI just want you to know I really, really am falling for you and I see how you and I can forge something precious moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n![\"Golden](\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Golden-Bachelor-Mel-Owens-Picks-Final-2-Sends-Home-Debbie-Who-Opened-Up-About-Ex-s-Suicide-at-Hometowns-178150_4508_RD1.jpg?w=1000&quality=70&strip=all\")
<\/div>Disney\/Ricky Middlesworth<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nWhen it was time for Mel to pick his final two, he began with a message for the three women.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I first spoke with the group regarding the podcast, I had my own personal mea culpa,\u201d he said at the rose ceremony, referring to the comments he made about casting women 45-60 before the season started airing. \u201cI thought that I wanted a certain type of woman and I still do and they\u2019re right here before me: beautiful, accomplished, brilliant, spiritual. But I have a very, very difficult decision. It\u2019s not one that I take lightly and I stand before you humbled with an open heart.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mel ultimately gave roses to Peg and Cindy, sending an emotional Debbie home.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is very upsetting but I knew coming into this that this was a possibility. Of course I thought or hoped \u2026\u201d she told Mel through tears.<\/p>\n
After Mel assured Debbie that she \u201ctouched my heart in more ways than one,\u201d Debbie left Mel with a final message: \u201cTake care of those girls, OK?\u201d<\/p>\n
The pair kissed goodbye twice before Debbie went into the car.
\u201cI put myself out there in such a giant way only to have yet another disappointment,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s beyond painful.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Mel\u2019s journey continues with the Women Tell All on Wednesday, October 29, he gave Us Weekly<\/em> exclusive insight into making his final choice \u2014 which included making a pros and cons list \u2014 in his Us<\/em> cover story.<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cIt was tough, and I\u2019m just trying to figure out who is going to be the best fit for me, who I would enjoy,\u201d he told Us<\/em>. \u201cThe hometowns are all great. But there\u2019s that magnetism that pulls you in that direction no matter what, and it\u2019s a little bit more toward one person than the other, so I went with my gut.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
<\/div>\u201cMy goal is to find someone \u2014 that\u2019s the goal,\u201d he replied. \u201cWhatever that means.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Dakota asked again, \u201cAre you actually looking for someone?\u201d Mel tried to assure her: \u201cIf I wasn\u2019t serious about it, I wouldn\u2019t be here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mel traveled to see Debbie in Colorado next, with the fitness professional getting deep during their trip to Red Rocks and revealing that her last relationship in her early 50s ended in tragedy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew he had a little bit of depression, but he hid a lot from me. Within, maybe, six months, I just started seeing this behavior and it was pretty heavy. I had tried breaking up with him a couple times, but I could never because I loved him so much,\u201d Debbie explained to Mel. \u201cIt was like I couldn\u2019t live with him and without him. I was completely conflicted.\u201d<\/p>\n
Debbie and her then-boyfriend saw his therapist together and she ended it with the professional\u2019s help. \u201cThe horrible thing is, he took his life,\u201d Debbie recalled to Mel. \u201cIt altered me forever.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mel supported Debbie at the time, assuring her that there is no way she could have predicted what happened with her ex.<\/p>\n Mel\u2019s final hometown date was with Cindy where he met the retired biomedical engineer\u2019s three daughters. While her son-in-laws were more interested in talking about college football with Mel, one of Cindy\u2019s daughters took more of a cue from Peg\u2019s daughter Dakota.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s dated and she\u2019s had some really great guys, but they\u2019re just not \u2018the guy.\u2019 It\u2019s really important for her that whatever is next is for the rest of her lifetime. Do you see that with my mom? Is that kind of where you guys are at in the experience?\u201d she asked Mel.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know. I like your mom a lot. I don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to unfold in the next few weeks or months or whatever,\u201d Mel confessed. \u201cI\u2019m letting it come naturally.\u201d<\/p>\n Worried that Mel was being a little \u201ctight-lipped\u201d or \u201cunsure\u201d about his future with her mom, she admitted in a confessional, \u201cI don\u2019t think that he really gave a lot of straight answers. I\u2019m a little bit worried about the long-term relationship that I know my mom wants.\u201d<\/p>\n Cindy, for her part, got emotional while informing her daughter about her strong feelings for Mel.<\/p>\n \t\t<\/a><\/p>\n \n\t\t\tThe Golden Bachelor star Carol Freeman-Branstine is explaining the reason behind her decision to leave Mel Owens\u2019 season early. \u201cIt was a tough decision, it really was,\u201d Carol, 63, exclusively told Us Weekly at the Golden Bachelor Gal\u2019s Brunch on Thursday, October 16. \u201cI never really been the one that leaves, so it was a [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI\u2019m not going to big L you unless you\u2019re there with me,\u201d she cautioned.<\/p>\n She later told Mel, \u201cI just want you to know I really, really am falling for you and I see how you and I can forge something precious moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n When it was time for Mel to pick his final two, he began with a message for the three women.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I first spoke with the group regarding the podcast, I had my own personal mea culpa,\u201d he said at the rose ceremony, referring to the comments he made about casting women 45-60 before the season started airing. \u201cI thought that I wanted a certain type of woman and I still do and they\u2019re right here before me: beautiful, accomplished, brilliant, spiritual. But I have a very, very difficult decision. It\u2019s not one that I take lightly and I stand before you humbled with an open heart.\u201d<\/p>\n Mel ultimately gave roses to Peg and Cindy, sending an emotional Debbie home.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is very upsetting but I knew coming into this that this was a possibility. Of course I thought or hoped \u2026\u201d she told Mel through tears.<\/p>\n After Mel assured Debbie that she \u201ctouched my heart in more ways than one,\u201d Debbie left Mel with a final message: \u201cTake care of those girls, OK?\u201d<\/p>\n The pair kissed goodbye twice before Debbie went into the car. While Mel\u2019s journey continues with the Women Tell All on Wednesday, October 29, he gave Us Weekly<\/em> exclusive insight into making his final choice \u2014 which included making a pros and cons list \u2014 in his Us<\/em> cover story.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIt was tough, and I\u2019m just trying to figure out who is going to be the best fit for me, who I would enjoy,\u201d he told Us<\/em>. \u201cThe hometowns are all great. But there\u2019s that magnetism that pulls you in that direction no matter what, and it\u2019s a little bit more toward one person than the other, so I went with my gut.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n\n\t\t\t
\n Related: <\/span>Golden Bachelor’s Carol Breaks Down Her Early Exit: ‘Tough Decision’<\/span><\/a>
\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>
\u201cI put myself out there in such a giant way only to have yet another disappointment,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s beyond painful.\u201d<\/p>\n