Hayloft party in underpants and a shocked candidate – “Farmer is looking for a wife” is back

A television show that has romance, nature, excitement, eroticism and a small pinch of shame as a recipe for success is entering its 20th round. Since September 13th, Austria’s farmers have once again been looking for their better half on ATV.

Spots lasting just a few minutes, interrupted by a few commercial breaks (and be careful – the show contains quite a few product placements), moderated by humorous, relaxed and funny clips with presenter Arabella Kiesbauer, who never takes herself too seriously. Loyal viewers know the concept. At the end of May, the candidates were announced and introduction videos were published. Filming took place over the summer. Yesterday, Wednesday, episode 3 of the Hofwochen was broadcast on television.

The “zealous dairy farmer” and the “hot-blooded Styrian woman”

Christoph from the Vöcklabruck district is a “zealous dairy farmer”. And it delivers an unintentional highlight of the season right at the beginning. The German candidate Mareen appears unprepared for her plan to win over an Austrian farmer. “I just don’t understand what you’re saying, Christoph.” Briefly, a forced-seeming attempt at High German (emphasis on “experiment”) is started, instead of the Hausruckviertler dialect. Success is limited. Mareen feels sorry for the animals; tears come to her eyes as she tours the cowshed. When she then describes the cows as “dirty”, the farmer can see that Mareen will be traveling home that same day. A long journey home – she comes from Hamburg, 760 kilometers away.

The horse manager Nicole once again shows her 7 (!) invited boys what they got themselves into when they applied – dating, flirting, dancing, taking off their clothes, comparing muscles. A plush donkey costume is also included. And a lot of testosterone anyway. The broadcaster had warned and immediately called the 23-year-old a “hot-blooded Styrian”. Nicole was able to set a record for herself – because there have never been so many applications. The younger sister wants to help “keep the boys under control” – she is also still single, she says with a smile to the camera.

The 34-year-old Mike is a “sporty Tyrolean” – and proves this with a bike tour up his local mountain. Julia, Selina and Tamara keep up well and get individual dates in return. The forester has probably never received so much praise and admiration for his strong calves in his life. One thing is clear, Mike will be hotly contested.

Mushrooms, VW bus twins and an outfit problem

The “extraordinary Burgenlander” of the season is called Philip, has dreads and appears likeable and slightly chaotic to the viewer. As usual, he picks up his first candidate Daniella in the Unimog. He had previously cleaned it of the worst rubbish and vacuumed it in front of the camera – but dog hair is stubborn and a blanket over it does the trick too. Daniella, who has undergone gender reassignment surgery and is a model on the side, is thrilled by so much warm rurality. But less so from her competitors. One has devoted herself entirely to mushrooms, as she talks at length and with a dreamy look, the other is traveling late because she got stuck in Croatia with the missing twin Philips VW bus. The 31-year-old is thrilled.

Florian, the “sweet young winemaker” is only 20 years old and is looking for his dream farmer’s wife. Quite a few girls want to be exactly that; he has invited four of them to the farm that he runs with his family. One candidate doesn’t seem to be particularly impressed by the young winemaker – because her outfit “doesn’t work at all”. He seems to be quite impressed by Magdalena’s skills on the guitar. All the girls received a small cactus as a gift – because “everyone gives roses”.

Nothing has been decided yet and many farmers are just starting the farm weeks. The summery images of cuddles on blankets, walks in the forest and bike rides in the mountains make the 4 million viewers forget that it’s getting cold and gray outside.

A quick look at the 13 farmers who applied this year

The new episodes are broadcast every Wednesday at 8:15 p.m. on ATV – or online on joyn.