Jennifer Nettles Reveals Why She’s Hosting ‘Farmer Wants a Wife’: ‘It Has Had Wild Success All Over The World’
Farmers across America’s heartland are searching for love in a new U.S. version of Farmer Wants a Wife. On the surface, it might look like a Bachelor spinoff in spurs. But a few key elements of the show differ from the ABC franchise. For one, there are hay bales involved. More than that, country star and Farmer Wants a Wife host Jennifer Nettles says the “authentic” nature of the show and its successful track record drew her to it.
Fox‘s latest reality show may boast a few people looking to grab a few minutes of fame and an Instagram sponsorship before calling it quits. However, the potential for finding true love feels absolutely achievable, Nettles said. Here’s why she’s so optimistic for the show’s participants.
‘Farmer Wants a Wife’ boasts 180 marriages across the world
Farmer Wants a Wife started in 2001 in the United Kingdom. It began with humble roots but has since spread to 35 countries, leading to 180 marriages and 410 children. Fox’s trailer calls it the “world’s biggest dating show.”
The premise is fairly straightforward: Farmers looking for love host a group of women willing to trade city living for romance and a life in a quieter locale.
This is the second attempt for a network to bring Farmer Wants a Wife to a U.S. audience. The CW attempted in 2008, but that series lasted only one season.
In this version, four small-town farmers will host groups of women on their properties. They’ll be looking for chemistry, but they’ll also introduce their potential partners to the realities of living on a working farm. The men and women each selected each other as potential matches before filming started. From there, they’ll work together to see if they can find lasting happiness in a rural setting.
‘Farmer Wants a Wife’ host Jennifer Nettles views herself as the ‘fairy godmother’ on the show
Nettles, a country artist known for being the frontwoman for Sugarland and for her solo work, said she wasn’t familiar with the series when she was first approached about hosting it. “I hadn’t heard of the series even though it has had wild success all over the world,” she told Parade. However, the show’s track record spoke to the “authenticity” of it for her.
“I’m not a super per se big fan of romance reality, but this show is not one of those where in the end everyone is being hyper-dramatic and everybody who’s on it actually just wants to be an influencer,” she explained. “This is not that show.”
Nettles came in to film group scenes and also acted as a pseudo cheerleader and therapist for the participants — particularly the cowboys, she found. “My role is much more, as I like to call it, the Fairy Godmother,” she said. She would host the group outings and help the participants sift through their feelings as they went through the process. Some of the men, she said, were “overwhelmed in many ways.”
“They are real guys; they’re real farmers,” Nettles explained to Yahoo! “They come from small towns. The joke is that, you know, they know all the women in their town, and half of them, they’re related to,” she laughed. “Then suddenly, they have a group of wonderful women with them on their farms.”
There’s a ‘real chance’ of a wedding coming from season 1, Nettles said
Though each of the men elected to film the show, Nettles said some of them had moments of being anxious or shy — feelings she found understandable. “They live life on the land with animals… to put themselves out there in front of a camera [to find love]. I mean, that’s, that’s pretty exposing.”
Despite the hurdles for the men — not to mention the women adjusting to a totally new way of life — Nettles was optimistic about the potential for some genuine couples to come out of it.
“This has real authentic connections, people who are looking for lifelong partners — not just looking to become famous,” Nettles said, per Entertainment Tonight. But does season 1 end with wedding bells? Nettles couldn’t say for sure. “I so hope we see a wedding out of this show,” Nettles said, clapping her hands excitedly. “I think we stand a real chance of getting to see that.”
Farmer Wants a Wife premiered March 8, and season 1 will contain 10 episodes. New episodes air Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on Fox, with streaming on Hulu each Thursday.
