Golden Bachelor Mel Owens is providing some clarity — and closure – to runner-up Cindy Angelcyk Cullers after their shocking split.
During the Wednesday, November 12, finale, Cindy, 60, left Mel, 66, during her Fantasy Suite date after realizing that Mel was unsure about getting married to either her or Peg Munson.
“I don’t need to convince a man to love me,” she told host Jesse Palmer during After the Final Rose, noting that she was even willing to move from Texas to California to be with Mel.
Moments later, Cindy came face to face with Mel.
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“Going back to the dock was interesting to watch. I had replayed in my mind a million time because I really thought it was you. I really thought it was you,” she told Mel. “I’m just disappointed that you got that far without helping me understand that you weren’t ready for a commitment. Not just me, but all those women that you brought along this journey when did you know that you weren’t ready for something.”
Mel, meanwhile, asserted that he was “ready” to make a lasting commitment but simply needed more time.
“What you wanted was a proposal. But there’s another person there. And you can’t just leapfrog over that person,” he said, referring to Peg. “You have to continue the journey like I told you before it’s going to take time. You know the saying, first comes love, then comes marriage, then baby carriage. That won’t happen but that’s the saying. We talked about the leap of faith, I don’t operate that way in my life.”
He then told Jesse, “My feelings for [Cindy] were straightforward. I liked her or we wouldn’t have been in Antigua together.”
At the end of the day, Cindy said the pair just weren’t “aligned” in what they wanted.
“I’m a very wise woman. [I knew I was] not getting married. There was no wedding at the end of this week,” she continued. “There was a hope of commitment and to take this fairytale into a happily ever after. That’s what I was hoping for. I even told you I would be willing to leave my life in Austin, move to near you, not with you but near you, to pursue a life with you.”
Through it all, Cindy hopes that Mel finds The One.
“I want you to be happy, I pray for you every day. You’re a great guy,” she concluded, also revealing whether she is ready to find lasting love. “My heart is wide open. I learned so much about myself on this journey. I believe [my person] is out there.”
The episode kicked off after a cliff-hanger between Mel and Cindy, who wondered where their connection was going when he admitted he had hesitations about jumping into marriage again — and was undecided between the final two women.
“I love spending time with you. I love being with you. You’re sharing, caring, smart, but it’s a difficult situation. I am torn between you and Peg,” Mel told Cindy, who admitted that she “wrestled with trying not to shut down” in the environment. “You’re a brave soul for sticking through it. It’s hard to find a partner, but it could happen here, right?”
Ultimately, the pair didn’t spend their fantasy suite night together on the heels of his overnight date with Peg, which “exceeded” his expectations. Peg, for her part, shared a similar sentiment.
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“I feel like we understand each other better now,” she said in a confessional, after previously worrying whether Mel was “emotionally available” for a relationship. “All of my concerns definitely got answered last night.”
Before the season came to a close, Mel exclusively told Us Weekly that he made a pros and cons list as he attempted to narrow down the group of women and find The One.
“I usually don’t make those types of lists. I can do it in my head, but when you write stuff down, it’s meaningful,” Mel said in his Us cover story. “I wanted to write down my first impressions, the goods, the bads, the neutrals. It really didn’t sway me, but I could still look at it.”
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“It was tough,” he continued, “and I’m just trying to figure out who is going to be the best fit for me, who I would enjoy. The hometowns are all great. But there’s that magnetism that pulls you in that direction no matter what, and it’s a little bit more toward one person than the other, so I went with my gut.”
Mel noted that the show “can put on a production,” gushing over the picturesque backdrop in Antigua where he prepared to pop the question.
“I’ve never been there,” he said of the location. “I’ve been to islands, but I’ve never been there. But whoever scouted it out and set it up and got things prepared, just the little details, it’s just so good.”
In Mel’s perspective, the ending is “really emotional.”
“And you’re a little nervous, but it’s so brilliant,” he said. “It’s so good, you won’t believe it. … You won’t believe how we get there, not mechanically, but how we get there emotionally. There’s some movement and twists and turns.”
