Jennifer Nettles discusses 'Farmer Wants a Wife' and the power of country culture

There are country music artists and fans who are new to the genre's powerhouse crossover potential, and then there's Jennifer Nettles.

In her current role as host of Fox's reboot of the 22-year-old, globally popular "Farmer Wants a Wife" franchise for a second season, Sugarland lead vocalist and socially aware country music star Nettles is excited about growing the program's reach from last season's ability to merge Western lifestyle with country music's pop cultural dominance.

Season 2 debuted Feb. 1 and airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. CT on Fox.

In conversation with The Tennessean, the Grammy-winning performer passionately discusses how interest in country music and the Western lifestyle continues to grow.

Her three-decade Nashville career, which spans the country boom of the 1990s through the present day, includes three No. 1 albums and seven chart-topping singles.

Why Nettles enjoys hosting the 'Farmer Wants a Wife'

For Nettles, "Farmer Wants a Wife" allows her to enjoy watching another generation of young women learn that the lifestyle at which she sits at the pinnacle is not as glamorous as music videos and social media posts typically suggest.

"Fish out of water moments are always entertaining," Nettles offers.

"('Farmer Wants a Wife') is an authentic dating show that's not like most, which are filled with prefabricated drama and hysterics done for the sake of television and Instagram influencers having their 15 minutes of fame," she says.

"Witnessing someone's legitimate journey for love is heartwarming."

The program's lineage hearkens back four decades to Swiss television's 1983-debuted program "Bauer sucht Bäuerin" ("farmer is looking for a female farmer"). The program led to six marriages, four of which lasted.

Since then, "Farmer Wants a Wife" has developed what many consider the world's most successful television dating franchise. Versions in nearly three dozen countries have resulted in almost 200 marriages and over 400 children.

'An opportunity to earn a chance at love'

Comparatively, over 11,000 weddings occurred in the Nashville area in 2021. Thus, like women worldwide, dating, romance and marriage represent the ideal truths following three chords at a honky-tonk for many country-related lifestyle devotees.

"Dating show fans who want to learn about farm life are watching real-life experiences (on 'Farmer Wants a Wife'). These farmers and ranchers are businessmen with jobs. Spotlighting their work as something worth more than a hashtag spotlights that being on a farm is different than imagining that you're living a lifestyle (otherwise)."

Mt. Juliet resident Mitchell Kolinsky, a first-generation farmer, joins Ty Ferrell of Missouri, Brandon Rogers of Colorado and Nathan Smothers of Florida in hosting single women looking for love on the show.

"These gentlemen are authentic in how they pursue their 24/7 jobs on the ranch," Nettles says.

"The cows and crops don't care that they need to sleep at night. However, they still desire love and it's difficult for them — and their small-town ways — to adjust to modern society. It's endearing to watch these guys appreciate the opportunity the show gives them to slow down their lives, get outside their comfort zone and earn a chance at love."

Nettles still pushing for equality, success for women in country music

Nettles' time on "Farmer Wants a Wife" is embedded in her work over the past half-decade to ensure women remain visible in country music's male-dominated marketplace.

Famously, in November 2019, Nettles hit the Country Music Association Awards red carpet in a Christian Siriano gown with a hot-pink train featuring hand-painted graffiti by Alice Mizrahi stating, "PLAY OUR F*@#!N RECORDS PLEASE & THANK YOU!" and "EQUAL PLAY," in protest of country music radio stations not playing female artists equally.

At the 2020 CMT Music Awards, her activism netted her the inaugural CMT Equal Play award.

Nettles namedrops a quartet of award-winning, boundary-pressing, and chart-topping modern-era stars in the country mainstream — Kelsea Ballerini, Brandy Clark, Ashley McBryde, and Lainey Wilson — as those she views as "determined, talented storytellers diversely accepting the call of the challenge" of creating equitable space for women in the country music industry.

"It's currently impossible for the genre's female artists to have a moment to take off our hats of activism. I'm grateful for moments like being visible as a host (of 'Farmer Wants a Wife') and being visibly able to celebrate strides, overall, that women are making in country music.

"Women in country music expanding artistically and gaining visibility allows our surge for equality and equity to continue."

Love spurs consistent ratings

In an era in which cord-cutting and advanced notions of how to watch first-run broadcasting have spelled doom for many programs on free, terrestrial television, "Farmer Wants a Wife" is a rare program that has experienced no dip in ratings or viewership between the last time it aired on the CW Network in 2008 to its 2023 Fox revival.

When it's posited to Nettles that "love" and "country and Western culture" have a tight, unified grip over a growing segment of America, she agrees.

"Troubadours have sung about love stories throughout the history of country music and every other genre. However, in country, fully realized and heavily visual stories that allow the listener to experience themselves impacted by them are at the cornerstone of the genre," says Nettles.

"America's foundation is built, in song, upon celebrating mountains and prairies between oceans. Blending celebrating the farmers whose tie to the agriculture of those regions is so important with something as universal as love has incredible staying power."

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Jennifer Nettles hosts a second season of Fox's 'Farmer Wants a Wife'