Warning: Spoilers ahead from Season 2, Episode 13 of Fox's "Farmer Wants a Wife" that aired Thursday, May 09.
How far would you go for love?
Wisconsin’s Grace Girard saddled up and joined FOX’s reality dating show, Farmer Wants A Wife, in hopes of a rural romance.
On the show, four farmers from across the country are set up with a crop of single women from big cities to show them life on the farm.
In last night’s emotional season finale, Girard successfully lassoed farmer Brandon Roger’s heart.
Lake Effect’s Xcaret Nuñez spoke with Girard ahead of the season finale about the moments leading up to Roger’s proposal and what’s next for the Wisconsin sweetheart.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
After visiting Caledonia for the hometown episode, you and Brandon were apart for a week before filming the season finale. What conversations were you having with your family and friends?
It was a tough week. I was finally able to see my friends, but of course, I had to catch them up on everything that was going on, which was really difficult because I was trying to condense six weeks into a dinner conversation.
They were all trying to analyze what Brandon might do in the finale, and I was trying to figure it out myself. There's a lot of thoughts going through your mind at that point.
Also, my family had just met him for the first time and it was super important to me to get their opinions. So I was trying to just gather as much information as I could from all of my favorite sources and trying to figure out what was going to go down.
Ahead of Brandon proposing to you, were you certain it’s something you’d move forward with, or were you still on the fence?
There was some doubt for sure. I think, just throughout this whole process, I was always second-guessing how real his feelings were for me.
He was trying his best to indicate where his head was at, but at the same time, you just always wonder, if he has deeper feelings for one of the other girls he's dating at the same time. So I feel like there's a lot of doubt and insecurities that come from that.
But [the experience] also just taught me to be confident in my feelings and putting them out there. No matter the outcome, I was still true to myself, so I feel like that was the end goal. But you know, you're still walking out there and wondering if he's gonna meet you there.
How did seeing Brandon for the finale go down?
It was a full day of filming — we had to get fully made up, get our hair done and our dresses on early in the morning. Emerson and I both got in the car, and we were kind of just separated from there. I waited around for a little bit and then finally it was my turn.
So [the production team] drove me up in a car and I'm sitting in the backseat trying to take deep breaths. Then they tell me to get out of the car and to walk to Brandon.
I walked through this beautiful area. It was filmed at [Brandon’s] step-mom’s house on the Rio Grande River, and it was stunning. So that was the first thing I saw when I got out of the car, and then I saw Brandon and I started walking towards him. It was probably the most nervous I had been the whole season.
I walked up to [Brandon] and I really couldn't get a read on him, to be honest. You know, all of these thoughts are going through your mind and you don't know what's going to happen. I was still feeling good about where I was at with him, as far as my heart, and what I was feeling.
He started this kind of speech and asked “How do you feel about me?” and I was like, “Brandon, I really appreciate you and all of the kindness and all of the love that you showed all of the girls that have been with you. I feel like you've been really open about this whole process and genuine and yourself and super thoughtful.” And then he said, “I've spent a lot of time thinking about this and talking to a lot of my people about this,” just as I had done, as well.
And then, he said that he wanted to try it out with me.
I was ecstatic. I was immediately like, “Oh my gosh, I don't know why I was even freaking out.” You know, all of those thoughts lead to that moment, and then all of your doubts are completely eliminated. Because just with those words, I felt like, “OK, all of this hard work has led up to this moment and he's meeting me halfway.”
What happened after filming for the finale wrapped up?
I actually asked production if I could move my flight back, and they said, “Sure.” So we wrapped and we got to celebrate with the crew who we had grown to love.
They went on their way, and Brandon and I went to get dinner with his parents and then I stayed the weekend in Alamosa and we just hung out and got to be alone together without all the crew on us at all times.
It was awesome because I feel like I was able to see that he was really being himself the whole time even when the cameras were on us. It was super validating to see that.
Then I flew home.
How did the show change your perspective on dating and who you date?
It's been super interesting. I'm sure a lot of people will feel this way. But, after you get out of a relationship, it's easy to look back on that past relationship and see where things went wrong or where things went right because you've taken a step away from it.
What's interesting for me is going through this process, and whether or not we're out of the relationship, I'm able to look back on all of the ways that we've done good and the ways that we've done bad through the show. Just to see [the show] play out, it's kind of like you're getting a little moment of introspection and reflection, just by watching all of that and thinking about what went down in that moment.
So it's been really cool, I feel like I've been able to reflect on a lot of things. I feel like for me, just really putting myself out there and not being afraid of the outcome because you know you just did right by yourself. So that's really important to me now. I think I've just become a lot more confident in a lot of aspects of my life and just being able to show up for myself.
What’s next for you?
I feel like I'm just gonna keep navigating my life. I plan on trying to interact with the Farmer Wants A Wife fans as much as possible, but also kind of move on. It's been such a wild ride. I am so appreciative of it. I'm getting emotional thinking about it.
This summer, I plan on going to a lot of concerts, I'll be at a lot of country festivals and just kind of hanging out in Wisconsin. I plan on hanging out with family and friends and just seeing where that goes. So really, a lot of just focusing on myself, and if I am in a relationship, you guys will know and I’ll be working on that [relationship] for sure. We'll see what happens.
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According to FOX, Farmer Wants a Wife is “the most successful dating show in the world, airing in 32 countries and resulting in 201 marriages and 514 children … and counting.”
You can learn more about Grace and Brandon’s current relationship status by watching the ‘Farmer Wants a Wife,’ cast reunion next Thursday, May 16 at 8 p.m. CT on FOX.
