Picture “The Bachelor” — but with barns.
That's the premise of "Farmer Wants a Wife," Fox's down-home dating series that brings together farmers and city slicker women. The series returns for its second season Thursday, Feb. 2.
“The people who are on here are looking for love,” the show’s host Jennifer Nettles said during a Jan. 30 appearance on TODAY with Hoda & Jenna, as opposed to their “15 seconds of fame.”
Each season, four single farmers bring separate groups of women to their farms. Through a series of country-themed challenges, the farmers try to narrow down the herd and find the one.
While the show's methods may seem unusual, it's led to true-blue romance: Nettles says the show — which has versions in 32 countries — has resulted in over 200 marriages and over 500 children between the contestants.
The first American version of "Farmer Wants a Wife" ran for just one season in 2008 before being cancelled. Fox revived the series over a decade later, and the first season of the current "Farmer Wants a Wife" reboot aired in 2023.
Season Two of “Farmer Wants A Wife” premieres Feb. 1, and is available to watch live on FOX or next-day streaming on Hulu.
TODAY.com sat down with the Season Two cast of "Farmer Wants A Wife" to talk about farm life and ranch romance.
Who are this season's farmers? Allow them to introduce themselves
The show's second season features a new group of farmers (or, as Hoda puts it, "hunky farmers") hoping to find rural romance. Nettles described the farmers as “gentlemen all the way” to Hoda and Jenna.
“They are so kind, and so compassionate, and so sweet,” she said. “They are just good, good, solid souls.”
Ty Ferrell
Ty Ferrell, 42, is a roper from Missouri whose farm includes cattle and horses. He has a 12-year old daughter, Lennon, from a previous marriage.
Ferrell, the self-described “silver fox” of the season, says that he joined the show for one simple reason: “To find love, plain and simple.”
“It’s hard to find, especially at my age at 42,” he tells TODAY.com. “Being a father, there’s a different dynamic of a woman that I’m looking for. There’s just not a lot of ladies that are close to my age, and that really want to share the same experience.”
Mitchell Kolinsky
Mitchell Kolinsky, 27, is a first-generation farmer from Tennessee. He hopes to grow his business as a cattle and horse rancher.
Kolinsky was ready to "trust the process" on "Farmer Wants A Wife."
"Everything does happen for a reason, and we’re here today for a reason," he says.
Brandon Rogers
Brandon Rogers, 29, is a barley and potato farmer from Colorado.
He enjoyed showing his dates the reality of farming.
"You’re thrown into the fire on these farms, and you get to really see if you enjoy that," he says. "These women really get the experience of what it would be like in the country.”
Nathan Smothers
The youngest farmer in the cast is Nathan Smothers, 23, a citrus and cattle farmer in Florida.
Though Smothers is the youngest farmer, he’s ready to get serious. After his father passed away when he was 12, Smothers had to grow up fast. Now, Smothers wants to start building his own family.
“Being 23, there’s a lot of women that are my age that aren’t ready to settle down. I want somebody to build a life with at an early age and be a young dad. And that’s hard to find at my age,” he tells TODAY.com.
Why does 'Farmer Wants a Wife' have such a good track record?
Amid a sea of dating reality shows, "Farmer Wants A Wife" and its international franchises have produced a striking number of happy couples.
Nettles says the show's success comes down to the people it attracts.
"The people who are interested in this show are doing it for the right reasons. They're doing it because they want love, because they want to try something new, because they are willing to open up their hearts to an adventure," she says.
Going into "Farmer Wants A Wife," Smothers hoped that he would find similar success as previous couples on the show.
“At the end of the day, this clearly works with all the marriages and babies that come out of it,” he says.
With all the creature comforts of the city, why move to a farm? The farmers have their theories — and sales pitches.
“Nowadays, it’s hard to find a manly man that uses his hands in kind of that blue collar field,” Smothers says. “I think women are attracted to that because, you know — cities are massive, and you can’t see sunsets, and you can’t go for a walk in a pasture or something like that. I honestly think it’s just the peace of getting into that slower pace of life.”
Kolinsky agrees, adding, “A lot of the girls were just over the whole dating scene in the city. They wanted that slow pace, the sunset walks, cooking dinner for them — like the way that a woman should be treated.”
In a world of dating apps and DMs, Nettles sees the show as a space for genuine connection.
“People want something that’s more authentic than that,” she says. “I think this feels more authentic — even though it’s on television. It’s more like you get to know someone, and you talk about your life and you don’t just hook up for date or for sport.”
Before joining “Farmer Wants A Wife,” several of the farmers struggled to cultivate love lives.
Ferrell was motivated to join the show due to the difficulty of finding romance in a rural area. While he had some success with dating apps, most of the women he connected with lived hours away.
“In a small town, it’s very limited,” he says. “What if there was somebody out there?”
Similarly, Rogers’ farm is located in a town four hours from the nearest airport, which makes meeting new people difficult.
“Finding somebody is hard,” he says. “It’s the authenticity of these women wanting to come to the farm, and be a part of that lifestyle, that makes it way more real.”
Running a farm isn't easy, and Smothers notes that many people have a romanticized view of rural life.
"People don’t realize the cows don’t care if it’s cold, the cows don’t care if it’s darker in the morning. It’s not a 9 to 5 job. They depend on you. And so you sacrifice a lot," Smothers says.
"I think a lot of these women were actually surprised that it's a business," Rogers adds. Behind the scenes, there are bills to pay, budgets to manage, and crops to harvest.
On the other hand, Ferrell found that how the women coped with the difficulties of farm life was a good litmus test for their compatibility.
"They got to see all the hard work and the bad days and the good days, and we got to see which ones would actually stick around," he says.
The cast agreed that authenticity was the theme of the season.
"You can definitely tell the women are there for the right reasons, and the women that are just there for the spotlight, for sure," Smothers says. "And there’s a lot more there for the right reasons than vice versa."
Smothers notes that getting to know multiple women at once presented a challenge.
“At the beginning, you’re dating five women when they come back to the farm. It’s tough on somebody that’s a very traditional, one-on- one kind of person," he says. "You’re raised to be a loyal person, stick with that one person, and now you’re thrown into this environment, where you have five women, and you’ve got to give them all the time of day. So it was definitely challenging."
Dating in front of the cameras was also a new experience for the farmers.
“It’s one thing to be able to go on a date, it’s just you and her," Rogers says. "But in this situation, you’ve got three or four cameras, you’ve got sound guys, you’ve got lighting guys, and you have all these people watching you on your first date, your second date, and you’re trying to build this connection and be authentic."
Though most of the action happened separately except for the weekly mixers, Ferrell says that the farmers grew close over the course of the show.
"It didn't matter our age or our location," he says. "We were sharing the same experience, and that's really what created the bond."
