‘Golden Bachelor’: Why Did Carol Leave & Who Are Mel Owens’ Final 3?
[WARNING: This post contains MAJOR spoilers from The Golden Bachelor Season 2 Episode 5.]
Mel Owens‘ journey to find love continued on the Wednesday, October 15, episode of The Golden Bachelor. The episode began with six women left, and the group was narrowed down to just three by the end of the night.
But the women weren’t all sent home during the rose ceremony. Actually, one of the women left on her own accord in the midst of the group date.
The woman in question was Carol Freeman-Branstine, who realized that Mel simply wasn’t her “person.” Carol started having doubts when she didn’t get this week’s one-on-one date (that went to Cindy Cullers). Mel did spend individual time with all five of the other women on the group date, which is when Carol told him that she’d be going home.
Disney/John Fleenor
After Mel asked who he’d be meeting if Carol got a Hometown Date, she had to be honest with him about where she was at. “I wanted to connect with you,” Carol admitted. “I’m very interested in you, I really am. But I feel like we haven’t had a lot of conversations. I just feel like … I got my family at home, and then me not getting the one-on-one … I thought, you know what? I don’t think you have that connection with me. I don’t know if I can continue on this journey with you. This is really hard because I really care about you.”
Mel told Carol that he “respected” her decision. However, he admitted, “I’m sad because I think she and I were finally getting to know each other better.”
Still, he had to continue on with the remaining five women. At the rose ceremony, he gave Cindy the first rose, then also gave roses to Peg Munson and Debbie Siebers, which meant that Cheryl Steele and Nicolle Briscoe were eliminated.
Nicolle is the woman whom Robin Rocha warned Mel about last week, and he seemingly saw another side of her in this episode when he was trying to find out what she did for a living and didn’t receive a clear-cut answer. Nicolle talked a lot about building her following on Instagram, and Mel didn’t leave the conversation with a clear understanding of her career.
When Nicolle left, she told Mel to give her a call if it didn’t work out with the woman he picked because she didn’t think it would. She also mentioned her desire to be on The Golden Bachelorette in her final confessional.
Next week, Mel will visit the hometowns of Cindy, Peg, and Debbie before eliminating one of them and having to eventually decide between his Final 2.
The Golden Bachelor, Season 2, Wednesdays, 8/7c, ABC
