Fox Entertainment has officially put forth a series order for Farmer Wants a Wife, a reality TV competition in which rural farmers tour the country looking for love and are presented with a batch of women who, having been unlucky in love in the city, have decided to try their hand at life on a farm.
Originally a British television show, the original Farmer Wants a Wife first debuted in the UK on ITV in 2001. Produced by Fremantle Media, the original show would set up a basic concept where rural farmers would be presented with a group of contestants and choose one woman to be their bride. Farmer Wants a Wife would eventually spawn more than 10 different international versions of the show, from France’s L’amour est dans le pré (2005) and Australia’s The Farmer Wants a Wife (2007), as well as adaptations in Belgium, Austria, Italy, Norway, and two different German versions. In fact, Fox’s Farmer Wants a Wife will actually be the second time the show has aired in the US, with the show having aired on the CW for a short time in 2008.
‘Farmer Wants a Wife’ to Air on Fox
News of Farmer Wants a Wife’s return to the US comes just before Fox’s presentation at the Television Critic’s Association summer 2022 tour, Variety reports, with Fox Alternative Entertainment president Rob Wade announcing that the US adaptation of Farmer Wants a Wife will deviate from the basic format just a little bit in that “the contestants put themselves forward to be with these individuals. It’s tailored for each farmer, and we know that the women are interested in them specifically.”
With so many international versions out there, changes to the formula of Farmer Wants a Wife aren’t necessarily a new thing – some versions have featured gay farmers or women looking for a husband – but it will be interesting to see how the sometimes hit-or-miss American audience will receive the show.
When asked about Fox’s series order for Farmer Wants a Wife, Rob Wade told Variety, “[W]hat I love about it most is that it’s been around for a while — it’s got a phenomenal track record internationally… At the moment, people are drawn to nostalgic things. The homestead farm is at the very fabric of America, and I think it’s under threat.”
Fox Entertainment has reportedly called the Farmer Wants a Wife format “the world’s most successful dating show,” according to Variety, with Wade also telling The Hollywood Reporter that he thinks Farmer Wants a Wife will “speak to a lot of people” and “in a weird way, I think that makes it quite relevant in the moment.”
Farmer Wants a Wife on Fox will be produced by Eureka Productions for Fremantle. Paul Franklin, Chris Culvenor, Eden Gaha, and David Tibballs have been confirmed as executive producers, but no other information regarding the show’s release or schedule has been announced.
