Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles to Host Dating Show for Farmers
Sugarland singer Jennifer Nettles will host a dating show for farmers this spring. Farmer Wants a Wife will air on Fox, beginning on Wednesday, March 8 at 9 p.m. ET. The new series comes from Fremantle, the media giant that owns American Idol and The X Factor.
Farmer Wants a Wife features four farmers from across the country hoping to find the love of their lives among a group of women who head to their farms. The farmers will show the "big city" women what it is like to live on a ranch or farm and hope they find a wife among them. The women will be forced to ask themselves if they are willing to change their lives for love.
"Bringing the world's most popular dating show to FOX requires a superstar host to match, and we found the perfect pairing in Jennifer, a multi-talented entertainer who's a little country, a little big city, and huge on heart and humor, making her the perfect choice for wrangling romance in the heartland," Allison Wallach, President of Unscripted Programming at FOX Entertainment, said on Dec. 14. Farmer Wants a Wife has aired in 32 countries and resulted in 180 marriages and 410 children. The series is produced by Eureka Productions, with Paul Franklin, Eden Gaha, Crhsi Culbenor, David Tibbals, and David Emery as executive producers. Laren Taylor Harding serves as the showrunner.
This will be the second attempt at a Farmer Wants a Wife series in the U.S. The CW aired a version from April to June 2008, filmed at farms in Missouri. This series featured a single farmer, with 10 women from across the country vying for his hand. Canada is also receiving a new version, titled Farming for Love, which will air on CTV next year and features six Canadian farmers looking for love.
Nettles is best known as one-half of the country duo Sugarland, with guitarist Kristian Bush. She released her newest solo album, Always Like New, in June 2019. Nettles serves as a judge on TBS' Go-Big Show and has also acted in Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Colors and Dolly Parton's Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love. She has a recurring role in HBO's The Righteous Gemstones and starred on Broadway in Waitress last year. In March 2021, Nettles told Deadline she was developing a Broadway show about 17th Century Italian "professional poisoner" Giulia Tofana.