Mel Owens and Peg Munson were able to step into the spotlight with their relationship just in time for the 2025 holiday season. The couple confirmed that they’re an item following The Golden Bachelor finale on November 12.
Now, they have a very busy few weeks coming up, and they dished to Swooon all about their plans. From Thanksgiving to Christmas, and lots of fun weekends in between, Owens and Munson have a lot to look forward to.
Glamour: Congratulations to you both! Mel, you weren’t kidding about the fireworks, literally and figuratively. You’re in love, too, but we didn’t hear those words until the After the Final Rose live taping. So when did you guys know you were in love, and when did you first say those words to each other?
Peg Munson: Well, I knew I was growing in love with him during this whole journey. So it was one day at a time, and it was just opening up my heart and my mind to allow that to happen naturally. It wasn’t just one day, like, “Boom! I’m in love with you.” It’s time. It takes time to get to know somebody, and it takes time to fall in love with somebody. It was a progression for me.
Mel, what about you? When did you first say, “I love you” to Peg?
Mel Owens: When I first met Peg, I had a crush on her. It was almost that instantaneous electricity and a connection, and then it grew over time. By time we were on the island in Antigua, and then we went to the little island, I realized, “I’m in love with her.” I just became infatuated with her, and I had a crush on her, and it’s still growing.
I have to say, while we love a grand gesture or a proposal, I think you guys probably did it the smartest way. You’re in an accelerated timeline, and you’ve only known each other for about five weeks, so don’t rush the feelings. You might’ve done it the smartest way of any couple on this show. Do you feel that?
Peg: We appreciate that. We really appreciate that.
Mel: It’s because I’m a Michigan guy!
Peg: He’s a smart guy. He’s a smart guy.
by Alex Billington
November 7, 2025
Source: YouTube
“Do you understand what kind of mess this girl is in? You don’t want to mess with these people.” “Oh I’m planning on it.” Samuel Goldwyn Films has revealed an official trailer for a film called Hunting Season, a survival thriller from filmmaker Raja Collins. This is being dropped directly on VOD to watch starting in December if anyone is curious. When a reclusive survivalist and his daughter rescue a mysterious, wounded woman from a river, they become entangled in a deadly web of violence & revenge, forcing them to confront a brutal criminal to survive. Both the feisty girl who discovers her and the overprotective father are forever changed by the arrival of this mysterious stranger, and by the ruthless drug lord who will stop at nothing to kill her once and for all. The film stars Mel Gibson, Shelley Hennig, Sofia Hublitz, and Jordi Molla. Yet another bland, schlocky action thriller that most will never watch. Move along folks, nothing to see here.
Here’s the official trailer (+ poster) for Raja Collins’ film Hunting Season, direct from YouTube:
When a mysterious young woman washes up on the bank of a local river, both the feisty twelve-year-old girl who discovers her and the overprotective father are forever changed by the arrival of this mysterious stranger into their home, and by the ruthless drug lord who will stop at nothing to kill her once and for all. Hunting Season is directed by indie producer / filmmaker Raja Collins (aka RJ Collins), director of the films American Sicario, Don’t Suck, and Crescent City previously. The screenplay is from Adam Hampton. Produced by Eduard Osipov, Eric Brenner, Vince Jolivette, David McCalib Jr, Dan Katzman, Al Bravo, Luke Wyckoff. This hasn’t premiered at any festivals or elsewhere, as far as we know. Goldwyn Films debuts Collins’ Hunting Season thriller in select US theaters + on VOD starting December 5th, 2025. Any good?
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Cindy Cullers tried to have a candid conversation with Mel Owens during their Fantasy Suite date on The Golden Bachelor, but getting him to open up was like pulling teeth. During the nighttime portion of the date, Cindy tried to get a feel for where Mel stood with their relationship, but he wasn’t able to give her an answer.
Instead, he sort of beat around the bush. “I like you a lot, so that’s not the problem,” he said. “However, there’s another person. So I can’t sit here and tell you that we’re going to be happily ever after if there’s another person.” As Cindy tried to pull more out of him, she eventually started asking tough questions about the former NFL star’s first marriage.
After Mel Owens filmed the Golden Bachelor reunion special and sat down to chat with reporters, he had one request. “Be nice to me!” he asked, earnestly.
But really, Owens had already faced his toughest critics when, on the first night of the second season of ABC‘s senior-aged spinoff series of The Bachelor, the 66-year-old former NFL player turned lawyer had to atone for some off-putting comments he made on a podcast shortly before filming began.
For the first time on the long-running reality TV dating competition, the classic first night — when the lead meets all of the women or men who will compete for their coveted final rose — was filled with more than just over-the-top limo entrances and awkward pull asides. There was also a lot of apologizing.
Almost one by one, the group of 60-and-over female contestants took Owens to task for saying on that podcast that if the women are “60 or over, I’m cutting them.” He added, “This is not The Silver Bachelor, this is The Golden Bachelor.”
But Owens was, again, earnestly apologetic when he owned up to what he said, as he offered up several apologies and asked the women to give him a second chance, which they soon did. Now, weeks after that Sept. 24 premiere, he faced the group again but in a different format — instead of on the driveway of the Bachelor mansion, he met them face-to-face on an ABC stage to film the Women Tell All reunion show, which aired just two weeks before the season finale, when Owens could get engaged to one of his final two contestants.
“The expectations, obviously, were high going into this season,” Owens told The Hollywood Reporter, speaking after the reunion show and reflecting on his state of mind before filming began. “Because I knew about the franchise and how well it’s run, but my season exceeded expectations. I can’t speak about the other seasons, but my season did. I thought the women were great. They treated me well, and we had a wonderful time.”
Once the cameras started rolling, Owens has no regrets about how he handled himself. Judging his performance as a lead, Owens added, “Being vulnerable is discovering who you are, and how you feel as you go through the process. Sometimes that’s internal, even though you may not show it externally. But I grew from knowing all the women and our interactions. The women were diverse and from different backgrounds, and that was really appealing. They were from all over; they had kids and grandkids,” said the father of two. “It was really a truly unique experience.”
Golden Bachelor Mel Owens (left) with final two contestants Cindy and Peg.
Disney/John Fleenor
Owens’ final two contestants are Cindy, a 60-year-old retired biomedical engineer from Austin, Texas, and Peg, a 62-year-old retired firefighter and bomb tech from Las Vegas, Nev. Though he was mum on whether or not he finds love in the end, Owens and his exes agreed on one thing when they spoke to reporters, including THR, after the reunion taping — they believe this process works, and that you can find lasting love on the Golden Bachelor, despite what skeptics think.
“People are probably like, ‘Oh, it’s a show,’” said Carol, who eliminated herself over a lack of a connection with Owens before hometown dates. “Because guess what? If you can make friendships like I did with the women for the rest of your life, why can’t you fall in love with somebody for the rest of life in this short term process? I don’t believe you have to know someone forever to fall in love.”
And while most of the women were hesitant about returning to the franchise via summer spinoff series Bachelor in Paradise, all of them were open to the idea of becoming the next Golden Bachelorette.
“I really want to get married. I’ll be 65 next month so that’s the year for me. I don’t have time to mess around,” said Nicolle, who stirred up drama this season and admitted she apologized to the first season’s Golden Bachelor contestants for some of her comments while mic’d.
Castoff Gerri, who received the first impression rose but was later eliminated, added, “The Bachelorette does all the hard work. All I’d have to do is pick between 23 men? How fun would that be?” While Debbie, who placed in the final three, admitted, “I didn’t even think they would consider me because I’ve never been married and never had kids. I am so ready now. After going through this experience and opening my heart, and knowing I’m capable of feeling these things again, I miss it. I want a companion.”
Cheryl, who was eliminated in week five, agreed. “Mel was the one that that I was falling in love with and was hoping to take a journey with him,” she said. “That didn’t happen, and it was heavy on my heart. But I’m hopeful I’m going to find somebody.”
Whoever gets picked to lead the next cycle — which has yet to be officially renewed following Joan Vassos’ inaugural season in 2024 — the women all said they are prepared for the grueling production requirements after sharing tight quarters in the mansion and filming around the clock on Owens’ season, including a first night that didn’t wrap until long after the sun came up.
“Filming is nonstop. From morning until night, you’re on, which I didn’t know,” admits Carol. “I thought, ‘Is it lunchtime yet? I have to put makeup on again today?’ You have to have some stamina, that’s for sure, but it’s fantastic. If anyone is out there wants to do this process, I believe in it, I really do. I believe you can find love. It was all worth it.”
The Golden Bachelor releases new episodes Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on ABC, streaming the next day on Hulu.
So what’s your message to people who bombard you with questions?
I would just say to those people that it’s not fair to rush to judgment. You don’t know what someone has been through. What if there’s been abuse? What if there’s been betrayal? What if there’s a medical reason? We don’t know. And honestly, it’s so frustrating because even my family, God bless them, my dad would always just say, “Just pick somebody, Debbie.”
Oh no.
It drove me crazy because he’s the source of a lot of the pain that I’ve had to overcome, and the betrayals and things. Everybody is an individual, and I do think being single or never married is being more and more accepted than it used to be. I mean, certainly I got all the questions, like, “Is she a lesbian?” Seriously, it’s so crazy.
I’ve been so lonely for so long, and I’m just tired of it. So when I saw The Golden Bachelor, I thought, Gosh, how sweet, and it gave me hope. I thought, I’ve always been a risk-taker. So why not? I tried everything else.
Speaking of taking risks and putting yourself out there, if you were asked to be the Golden Bachelorette, would you say yes in a heartbeat?
I would say yes because even though I know how hard it would be, there’s just this feeling that this is my time. I have given so much, and I’ve been through so much, and I am ready for love. Mel kick-started my heart again. I feel confident again. I feel beautiful again. I feel I am worthy, I am deserving, and I want to find my partner. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life living life alone. So yeah, I would say yes. It’s all still surreal that I’m even sitting here, and that this is even happening. Because, wow, did I take a big risk, and did I put myself out there in a big way!