The wait is finally over. FOX’s hit reality dating show, Farmer Wants A Wife returns Thursday, March 20. Just ahead of the premiere I headed to Nashville to sit down with the fresh crop of farmers looking for love as the whole world watches. 

Storme Warren and his weekly Stories Behind The Songs show played host to the fellas at the Twelve Thirty Club on Broadway. After the show I had a chance to sit down with Colton Hendricks, John Sansone, Matt Warren, and Jay Woods. As I entered the room, all four men rose to greet me, before rearranging the chairs so that I was not staring into the blinding sun. What absolute gentlemen. But then it was down to business. 

As with the seasons before them, all four of these men lead everyday lives, and have farms to attend to, but they all come to agriculture in slightly different ways. Farmer John is a 26-year-old, soy, corn, and wheat farmer from Missouri but he is also currently in his second year of law school. 

“So the farm that is in our family has been in our family for 5 generations since 1893 I believe is when my great great grandfather immigrated from the Alsace region of Germany and landed in this town called New Hamburg which is where the farm is. So my grandfather still lives on that land, works on it but he suffered a stroke recently so he can’t do as much as he used to. So I help out where I can.”

He continued, “I wanted to go to law school originally because I never liked government over reach so I wanted to help out people who really can’t fend for themselves. Family farms and small town farmers fall into that category. My grandpa especially.”

Farmer Colton  is 28-years-old and hails from Mena, Arkansas where he is a cattle rancher and horse trainer. He’s also a divorced single dad to a young son. Colton knows he’s ready to find the one and is hoping to have more children. But he admits that dating in his small town of Arkansas probably wasn’t the answer. So he jumped all in on this unusual opportunity. 

He also had a very different approach when it came to figuring out if any of the women who come to Mena are the one for him. “I mainly looked for red flags because all of them were good, you know?” He explained it’s easier to figure out who might be right for you if you know exactly what you aren’t looking for in a partner. 

Underneath the wide brim of his tan cowboy hat, there is a bit of a playful flicker in his eyes at all times. Something says he will be fun to watch this season. 

Farmer Jay, 25, grew up on his grandfather’s farm in Florence, Alabama, but he left the state to pursue other dreams. He played college football for both Michigan and Duke but an injury meant he would not be pursuing football professionally. In a fortunate turn of fate, Jay returned to Alabama and was able to buy back his grandfather’s horse farm and he managed to transition from football player to farmer with relative ease. 

“I think as a football player, any athlete honestly, you put in more hours than you work regular jobs. You’re putting in 80 plus hours a week. And that becomes your whole life, your whole persona and navigating outside of that, it’s tough for some people. Some people get lost in it. For me, it was pretty easy. I already knew what I loved to do. I loved to be outside. I loved being around animals because of my granddaddy. I grew up outside and with the horses. So I knew once I got the opportunity I was going to get a farm.”

He continued, “It was just a blessing that I was able to buy his back when I got back. So it means a lot to me to keep that tradition going not only for my kids but for my grandkids as well. To show them, hey there is more to life than just sports. We all get lost in that some times. Everybody has their day when they gotta hang up the cleats. It was tough doing that but I’m happy where I’m at right now.”

Much like Farmer John, Jay is also looking for a woman with maternal instincts and someone that holds the same values that he does. “Somebody to help build up a farm and build up what I am doing in my future as well.”

Farmer Matt is a 30-year-old from California who is relatively new to the agricultural world. He had been living in Texas, Austin and then west Texas, when tragedy struck back home. His sister-in-law lost both of her parents so Matt returned to California to help his brother and sister-in-law on her family farm. 

However, his previous experience in our neck of the woods, made quite the impression and prepared him for what his life has become. “Surprisingly coming from California, I know there are great people there, don’t get me wrong, but as time went on I made friends with people that were from Texas. And those are, to this day, my favorite people. The family structure is so strong. They’re just good Christian people. Like you go to the small towns in Texas, no one has ever treated you that good. And their families are so important to them. My family is too but in California you just don’t get that as much. So those people out there that I know, their cousins, aunts, uncles, like everyone are like a family unit.” 

Matt admits he’s never really watched dating shows before and never thought he’d end up on one, but it “just kind of happened.” Although he said he was very surprised with how the process for this show works. The women are screened initially for compatibility with each farmer so when he met them he said, “Woah, these girls have everything that I want. It is really kind of cool because it can really work. Not saying it did or it didn’t,” he said with a wink and a laugh.

I tried very hard to get the guys to divulge if any of them have indeed found love. Filming wrapped five months ago, so if they did, they would have had a fair amount of time to deepen those connections without the cameras. But the guys were all very tight lipped. So I guess we will all just have to find out together. 

Farmer Wants A Wife premieres Thursday, March 20 on FOX and Hulu.