Mel Owens under fire after eliminating contestant who opened up about ex’s suicide on The Golden Bachelor originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Mel Owens had an emotional ending to this week’s episode of The Golden Bachelor, where a contestant shared a deeply personal anecdote about her life and then was eliminated. The action has sparked outrage for the former NFL star, calling the move insensitive.

On this week’s episode of The Golden Bachelor on Oct. 22,  Owens took a trip to the final three women’s hometowns to meet with their families and friends. Owens traveled to Las Vegas for Peg Munson, Denver for Debbie Siebers, and Austin for Cindy Cullers. During the Owens’ trip to Denver for Siebers, she shared the tragedy that occurred in her past relationship.

“I 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,” she explained to Owens.“It was like I couldn’t live with him and without him. I was completely conflicted.”

Then came the gut-wrenching part when she told Owens that her ex committed suicide.

“The horrible thing is, he took his life,” Siebers told Owens. “It altered me forever.” Owens reassured Siebers that she couldn’t have prevented her ex from taking his life and that it was not her fault.

While the two shared a sweet moment, it foreshadowed an emotional goodbye when he sent Siebers home.

“I put myself out there in such a giant way only to have yet another disappointment,” she said. “It’s beyond painful.”

It sparked outrage from users on X who felt that Siebers got the short end of the stick after sharing something so personal with Owens. Many fans are campaigning for Siebers to be the next Golden Bachelorette.

“They better make Debbie the next Golden Bachelorette. She deserves SO much better than Mel,” one fan wrote.

” That’s it! Debbie for Golden Bachelorette! That girl deserves it all!” a fan responded to Sieber’s elimination.

“Protect Debbie and her cute family at all costs,” another fan commented.

Mel Owens on age controversy

This is not the first controversy that Owens has put himself in since the beginning of the show. The former Los Angeles Rams star went viral for sharing his requirements to producers for the contestants on the show to be between 45 and 60 and not have an “artificial hips,” or wear “wigs,” and be “fit.” He told viewers in the podcast, In the Trenches, which is produced by his alma mater, the University of Michigan.

The “Women’s Tell All” episode of The Golden Bachelor is next week on Wednesday, Oct. 29, at 9 p.m. ET.

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