LOOKING FOR LOVE IN THE COUNTRYSIDE

When Country Living published an article in 1999 about lonely farmers, little did we know it would lead to years of love stories. Now inspiring a new BBC television series, we’re starting the next chapter

We’ve been matchmaking since 1999 – now we’ve inspired a new television show

From the overwhelming response we received to that article to the latest exciting TV project our campaign has inspired, this is how nearly 20 years of rural romance has unfolded...

August 1999 “Let Country Living help you find the love of your life!” This was the bold offer we put at the end of an article in one of our summer issues. The piece, called The Farmer Wants a Wife, was an in-depth discussion of the challenges farmers face when looking for love. “Years ago, this problem wouldn’t have existed,” we pointed out. “Back in Thomas Hardy’s day, the farm was a teeming workplace, most villages had a weekly dance and there would have been plenty of partners to choose from. But post-war, there has been a drift to towns, and farmers have become an endangered species.” We invited countryliving.co.uk readers to write in if they knew of any eligible countrymen or women who were seeking a partner – and were amazed when an avalanche of letters arrived.

November 1999 We decided something needed to be done – so, just before Christmas, we published the profiles of 13 male farmers, asking women who would like to meet them to write in.

February 2000 So many people responded (some of the farmers received more than 200 letters), we decided to set up a matchmaking service. It launched just in time for Valentine’s Day, and included more than 1,000 country-loving lonely hearts.

Summer 2000 The first Country Living weddings took place – of the original 13 farmers we featured, two tied the knot. Flush with our success, we did it all again – this time with 20 farmers featured.

November 2001 ITV turned our experience into a programme. Called

Farmer Wants a Wife, presented by

Country Living staffer Catherine Gee and filmed partly in our offices, it proved hugely popular and went on to be nominated for a BAFTA Award.

March 2004 Following the success of the UK version, Belgium produced its own show, and 30 more countries followed…

February 2001-2009 Over the next eight years, we featured 74 further farmers (including five women). The campaign

continued to be a success – at the last count, 18 of the farmers we featured are now married (and have 21 children between them!), with dozens of others happily paired up.

February 2016 In keeping with the trend for finding love online, we unveiled our own dating website, Country Loving (country-loving.co.uk). This sparked national interest, with an article appearing in The Telegraph and interviews taking place on BBC Radio.