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WATCH: Meet Dave. He is farming for love and you can date him

Farmer Dave is looking to find his perfect match

Dave Semmelink admits he was finagled into signing up for a reality television show.

It all started when someone at a local farmers market passed along his phone number to a casting agent at CTV.

The producers rang him and asked if he wanted to appear on a new program called Farming for Love.

“I said definitely not, that sounds crazy,” he told 103.1 Beach Radio’s Ara. "Then they bugged me again and … I said this sounds like a once in a lifetime opportunity and I was in.”

The premise of the show is simple; farmers from across British Columbia invite a group of urban daters to live and work alongside them. The suitors immerse themselves in a series of challenges, group activities, and one-on-one dates.

The show is based off the wildly popular The Farmer Wants a Wife franchise. It’s run in over 30 countries, gaining massive popularity in Australia and South Africa. The series has led to 191 weddings and 445 children, according to a media release from Bell Media.

Among those couples is one of Semmelink’s high school friends in South Africa.

“That was another reason I was like, ‘you know what, let’s give this a go,” he said. “It’s not impossible. Someone might be just as crazy as I am and actually apply for the show and we hit it off.”

Semmelink has farmed his entire life. He grew up on one outside of Cape Town, South Africa, and has run his own farm in Canada for eight years.

His siblings live in Kelowna and Vernon and help manage a 36-acre chunk of land five minutes from downtown, where they raise lamb and process chicken and lamb. In Vancouver Island’s Comox Valley, Semmelink tends grain and livestock.

“I love travelling between the two,” he said.

When it comes to would-be wives, Semmelink said she doesn’t have to be out in the field harvesting grain or hauling hay alongside him, saying she can have her own career pursuits.

“In fact, it would probably be better if they kind of had their own thing, so we didn’t bump heads all day every day,” he laughed.

His family is highly supportive of the endeavour, eager to see what comes of the dates.

Asked about his words of advice for the eight potential suitors: be yourself.

“Be willing to give anything a try,” he said. “All of our farms are really different... they have to be willing to try anything.”

The show is still casting singles to date the farmers. Filming is expected to start in September with an air date yet to be announced.

Published 2022-07-26 by Tyler Marr

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