A Swiss carpenter living on a Canadian ranch is seeking love on a German reality TV show.
No, really. It's true.
Andreas (he only goes by his first name on the show) is one of the lucky farmers on Bauer sucht Frau, a television program where farmers and women who are interested in living on farms are matched. The 68-year-old currently resides on a ranch near 70 Mile House.
Maren Mossig, a spokesperson for German channel RTL (where the show is broadcast), says Andreas ended up on the show by writing in.
"Andreas applied for the show by writing an email to the broadcaster. That’s the usual way for all our farmers to apply," she tells KamloopsMatters. "Then he had different calls and a casting shoot with the film team."
This past June, RTL aired introductions to the farmers (online and on TV), and women applied to meet their potential beaus. The farmers then chose from the pile of applications, of who they'd be interested in. Bauer sucht Frau is centred around those interactions, as women travel to the farmers' farms and ranches to meet the men and see the lifestyle.
"The host of the show, Inka Bause, introduces all farmers to the women at the 'Scheunenfest' (party at the barn). At the end of that day, the farmers had to decide which woman they want to invite to their homes to show them their life — and in the best case — fall in love," explains Mossig. "Andreas invited five ladies to the party and invited two women to Canada. But the ladies weren’t together at his farm. First Angelika was there for a few days, later Irmgard."
Andreas, who's originally from Switzerland, has been living in the 70 Mile House region for the past 20 years, and even built his own house.
Antje Schulte, a German fan of the show who visited B.C. recently, was excited to see British Columbia featured.
"It's beautiful, I'm glued to the screen," she says. "I want to see the scenery."
Andreas has done well, she adds.
"He's an earnest guy; seems to be pretty lonely," she says. "It's just cute to see a woman from the city going in and trying to live on the farm for a week."
Schulte says while some of the farmers just have a chunk of land, Andreas' farm is substantial.
"It's pretty cheesy, most of them aren't really farmers, they only have a couple sheep," she says. "(Andreas) actually has a proper farm."
The show has been on since 2005. This year's edition started in October and will run into December, Mossig says, though it was mostly shot this summer.
Clips can be seen HERE. They're all in German, but there are shots from around Kamloops and the region, including Helmcken Falls and Kamloops Lake.
