Cindy Dishes on Her Relationship with Mel Owens, Plus: A Sneak Peek into Her Hometown Visit
Spilling the tea…
Bachelor Nation is getting to know Cindy as she looks for love with Mel Owens on Season 2 of “The Golden Bachelor.”
Cindy was chosen as one of Mel’s final three women, and next week he’ll get to meet her family as they head to Hometowns.
But for now, Cindy is dishing all about her relationship with Mel on “Bachelor Happy Hour” and sharing a sneak peek into what we can expect from her Hometown visit.
Sharing more about her connection with the Golden Bachelor, Cindy revealed, “Mel and I would start a conversation and within a breath would be covering 10 topics. Our relationship is absolutely effortless. When he was named as the Golden Bachelor, my oldest daughter was the first one to discover it and she texted me immediately and called me and said, ‘Mom, I think they picked him for you.’”
Disney/John Fleenor
Cindy went on, saying, “Mel is uniquely designed to be in a relationship with me and so I was not surprised with this, and I leaned into it. And early on, I knew enough about him and I needed to explore the chemistry. Check, check. Now we’re looking at compatibility; it’s going very well…There’s no question that he and I are aligned and had easy, effortless, deep conversations.”
“He was very intentional with our time together and every little moment,” Cindy stated before sharing why meeting her family is so important for her.
She said, “Sometimes I believe that my family for sure and my friends are the best mirror for me. And knowing that he would have a chance to see where I live, to see why I live here, this was a big, bold change in my life. And it’s important that the man that I find myself with understands that I’m fully capable of making big, bold moves. And seeing and meeting my family. Because everybody says your kids are special and they are, but my family is unique and my son-in-laws tell me it’s a lot. And so I needed them to meet Mel and to help me be my mirror. And to look at him and reflect him into our lives. And then I also needed Mel to see my family and where I live and my lifestyle, so it was an important next step… My kids haven’t met a man in years.”
Disney/John Fleenor
Cindy also confessed that being with Mel “feels like a combination of home and vacation,” and gave a sneak peek into what viewers can expect from her Hometown visit.
“Having Mel in Austin, it’s very exciting,” she teased. “Let’s just say, the chemistry continues and he does have some great interactions with my most treasured people. And he finds a couple party favors along the way. A little bit of drama. Just remember, it’s super important that my family falls in love with him too… There is no other option. Mel has to ask permission. He will have to ask permission to marry me by these people that he doesn’t know. And it is surreal because they haven’t spent the hours with him that I have… So they’re going in with blind faith and it should be an episode for sure that everybody wants to see.”
Hear the rest of Cindy’s interview in the full episode of “Bachelor Happy Hour” below!
Rachael Kirkconnell Says She’s ‘Chronically Single’ After Matt James Split: ‘Someone Date Me!’
NEED TO KNOW
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Rachael Kirkconnell offered an update on her dating life during an appearance on the Oct. 16 episode of the Extra Dirty podcast
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She explained that she hasn't been dating since her split from Matt James earlier this year and revealed she needs to feel an emotional connection to someone more than physical attraction
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Kirkconnell and James met on his season of The Bachelor in 2021, where she won his final rose
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Rachael Kirkconnell is still navigating the single life after her split from
The reality star, 29, has been single for almost a year, but she admitted that it hasn’t been easy to jump back into the dating pool. During an appearance on influencer Hallie Batchelder’s
“Hi, someone date me!” she joked, looking straight at the camera. “No, I’ve been so chronically single. I haven’t been on a single date. I’m not on the apps. I’m not judging anyone who is on the apps, but I just don’t think that would work well for me. But honestly, if it gets to a point, I might have to jump on them.”
“We were talking about dry spells last night,” Kirkconnell said, noting both she and Batchelder have gone through long dry spells over the past year.
“Dry spells are important though, for self-discovery,” Batchelder, 26, chimed in, but Kirkconnell didn’t know if she agreed.
“I’m like, okay, I’m discovered,” she quipped. “I’m just lonely. I just, I don’t know, [want to] at least flirt with someone and get excited about someone and have a crush. I think I like gay guys. That’s the problem. I think I have a problem. I think I like people who don't like me back, or can't like me back. Something’s wrong up here.”
The Bachelor winner went on to suggest she might be “demi-sexual,” a term that refers to someone whose sexual attraction to a person depends on their emotional bond. However, she said she didn't think she is attracted to women, so she wasn't sure if the term applied to her.
“I just feel like I do have to have an emotional connection with someone,” Kirkconnell explained. “I can’t just go home with anyone. I have to feel safe and comfortable with them and be emotionally invested at least in a way that I could see us dating or I at least have a crush on them because of — I don't know, it's not like a physical attraction I guess — personality?”
While Kirkconnell is able to find people physically attractive to her, that doesn’t lead to her wanting any deeper interaction until she knows more about them.
“I think they're really hot, but I don't care after that because they could still be a terrible person or have the worst personality ever, and that would make me not want to sleep with them because that totally turns me off,” she shared. “I guess their attraction only gets them so far for me.”
Jamie McCarthy/Variety/Getty
Rachael Kirkconnell (left) and Matt JamesNever miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Earlier this year, Kirkconnell and James, 33, who met on his season of The Bachelor in 2021, called it quits and sent shockwaves through their fandom.
James announced the news on
Weeks after the split, Kirkconnell told PEOPLE she was "surprised" by the breakup.
“The whole thing's just been really weird because one, I didn't expect anything at all," she said. "Then, two, just the way he went about it and the way it was so public was really hard to deal with and go through the motions. It was one of those things where I'm not registering.”
She added that she had been leaning on her friends and family to cope.
"They know how to be there for me, and it's been a lot easier knowing that I have people in my corner and that I'm not alone, even though it can feel like it sometimes," Kirkconnell said.
