‘Golden Bachelor’ Star Terri Alani Responds Whoopi Goldberg’s Criticism Over Puppet

The Golden Bachelor contestant Terri Alani sent a direct message to Whoopi Goldberg after The View host criticized her puppet limo entrance on the ABC dating competition.

In Season 2 of the ABC series, Alani, 71, vied for the affections of Mel Owens, 66. The cosmetic dentist from Houston was eliminated in Week 3 after making a memorable entrance.

“This is Carly, my favorite dental assistant,” Alani said as she made a red-headed puppet wearing a blue dress say, “Hi, Mel! I bet you weren’t expecting all of these women over 60 to look so hot, right?” To that, Owens said, “Correct.” As Carly, Alani added, “And I bet you weren’t expecting this either, buddy,” as she made the puppet smack Owens in the face.

After the Golden Bachelor Season 2 premiere aired, Goldberg, 69, pointed out on the September 25 episode of The View, “I saw her lips moving. With ventriloquists, the ventriloquist’s lips should not be moving.”

Co-hosts Sara Haines, 48, also referred to Alani as “the muppet woman,” while Sunny Hostin, 56, admitted she “thought it was creepy.”

During an interview with Us Weekly published on Sunday, October 19, Alani shared her reaction to Goldberg’s criticism.

“I’m navigating through social media and all of a sudden, I see this segment and it’s Whoopi Goldberg on The View calling me out on national TV about my puppet not only being creepy, but she called me the muppet woman,” she told the outlet. “I mean, ‘the muppet woman’? That’s a whole new profession for me, because I’m a dentist.”

Alani then sent a direct message to Goldberg, telling Us Weekly: “Honestly, I was more upset about my lips moving, which she called me out on as well, but I didn’t feel so bad because she couldn’t even say the word ventriloquist. So Whoopi, take that!”

The Golden Bachelor, Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET, ABC

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