People adapted and found ways to be creative with dating this past year, but due to the strict restrictions that have been in place, it has been undeniably difficult to maintain a social life.
For farmers, there can be added layers: long hours of labour-intensive work, combined with living in rural communities isolated from many amenities and social outlets.
And thus, an idea was born: a US-based production company has decided it wants to help a farmer find love.
In particular, award-winning Kinetic Content is seeking an Irish farmer for its new dating show on global love.
‘Interesting angle’ for the dating show
The producers of ‘Love is Blind’ and ‘Married at First Sight’ are now casting singles worldwide for the “opportunity of a lifetime”.
They are looking for people who are “ready to do whatever it takes to find ‘the one’ – even if it means opening up their home to their potential match for a few months”.
Speaking to Agriland, Kinetic’s head of casting Donna Driscoll said that she thought it would be an “interesting angle” to have a farmer on the show, as “they work so hard that it’s probably difficult to go on dates, especially living in the country”.
“I feel we [Kinetic] have a pretty good track record when it comes to matchmaking based on our previous shows,” Driscoll said.
“So we’re taking this on an international level and we’re finding people who live in other countries who are interested and single and have a true desire to find a forever partner.
“During lockdown, a lot of people were realising how big the world is and that they can find love anywhere. And because everything was remote and virtual, people were making connections across the world with others.
“And when lockdowns were lifted, they were moving their entire life to potentially meet the love of their life that they met online during lockdown.
“We saw the potential and so that’s what we’re venturing out to do – to do the same thing for a lot of people who have been lonely and are ready to find love – truly ready to find love.”
The ideal candidate for this dating show
The ideal candidate? Aside from hopefully being a farmer, someone who is “mature, truly ready for a commitment, and open to adventure”.
“They can be of any sexual orientation, and we don’t obviously want to go too young because we don’t want to be marrying people who are still in college or university, but we want people who are adults with a career and are put together and ready,” Driscoll continued.
“They will have everything going for them – they have family; they have friends; a career that they love; they’re just missing that one special person in their life.”
Production will take place over the course of three months and US-based applicants must be willing and able to leave their current life for that time (between June and December), and international applicants must be willing to host their potential match for those months.
The application process
The process begins with filling out the online application form. A casting team will then go through each application and follow up with a number of applicants to do an interview to chat about “what they are looking for in a partner, why they’re ready for a committed relationship, and just to get to know them a lot better”.
“It’s our job to find the right person for them. We’re not going to be sending somebody to the farmer who doesn’t have a desire to live and prosper on a farm,” Driscoll explained.
“If it was somebody coming from a city, a busy city like New York – it would be somebody who is ready to leave city life behind and wants to live the lifestyle.”
There is compensation for each episode of the show the participants feature in, and the specifics of that are still being solidified – but according to Driscoll, it is “generous, because we need them to give time to this person to see if they have a connection, so there might be a requirement for them to have to take the first week off work to participate”.
Just go for it
Donna encourages anyone who is interested in applying to just go for it.
“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. So, if someone is truly looking for the love of their life, this could be the adventure that they need,” she added.
The show will be accessible worldwide on an undisclosed “major network” when it is finished production.