Jesse Palmer Gives Update on Golden Bachelor Mel Owens

There’s never a dull moment in Bachelor Nation.

As franchise host Jesse Palmer geared up for the return of Bachelor in Paradise (with the help of bartender Wells Adams and “Paradise Relations” Hannah Brown), Us Weekly asked Jesse about the upcoming Golden Bachelor star Mel Owens after he made waves for comments about “cutting” women over the age of 60 when he starts handing out roses.

“I’ve seen the headlines, obviously, because I’m on social media. I have not heard the podcast,” Jesse told Us on Wednesday, July 2. “We haven’t started filming Golden yet, so I haven’t spent a ton of time with Mel. The small amount of time I have spent with him, he seems like a good guy. But I know I’m gonna get to spend a lot more time with him pretty soon. I’m sure that’s something we’re going to talk about.”

ABC announced Mel, 66, as the next senior lead in April. Season 1 of The Golden Bachelor (starring Gerry Turner) and season 1 of The Golden Bachelorette (starring Joan Vassos) both aired in the fall, meaning it’s likely Mel’s season is set to start shooting soon and will air later this year.

The network also recently renewed The Bachelor, which typically premieres in January, for season 30.

“It makes me feel old because I was Bachelor 5!” Jesse told Us. “The only thing I’m asking for is Bachelor 30 — I’ve already talked to executives about this — we’ve got to make this big. For Bachelor 30, we should be going to locations that scream romance. I want Paris. I want Venice, Italy. I want to do an intro on a gondola ride. I want rose ceremonies on gondolas somewhere in the Venice canal! I’m pulling out all stops!”

Until then, fans should be prepared to see a revamped Paradise when the beach spinoff (now set in Costa Rica) returns on Monday, July 7.

“We have been using the same cameras to film Paradise since the dawn of time. Having these new cameras and seeing how sharp and how slick it looks — it’s like I’m watching a movie,” Wells told Us on Wednesday. “When they told me that they were gonna do this, I was really excited about it. Mainly because the show is so sexy, naturally — everyone’s so hot — we should have the highest quality cameras capturing the beauty of these people.”

Jesse also noted the “very fresh and new look” to the show. “I think viewers who watch it will notice that within seconds of the very, very first episode. I thought it looked great,” he told Us.

Bachelor in Paradise premieres on ABC Monday, July 7, at 8 p.m. ET.