This Sask. farmer is still looking for love after appearing on a Finnish dating show
Matthew Almusa has become a bit of a celebrity in Finland after appearing in a dating show for farmers.
The show, ‘Maajussille morsian maailmalla’ or its direct translation “Farmer Wants a Wife Worldwide”, focused on him and three other farmers looking for love.
The show required he film in Finland for three weeks. He also participated in shoots for the show in Regina and near his home in Margo, Sask.
A follow up episode was shot in Regina at the beginning of the year.
Almusa was not looking to be on a reality TV show when the opportunity presented itself.
Almusa said his cousin was researching the family’s genealogy and connected with a relative in Finland over Facebook. The relative was looking for single farmers to audition for the show
“Do you know anybody that has Finnish ancestry, is single and is in the farming industry?,” Almusa said the relative asked.
He chatted with the relative before being passed along to the show’s producers.
“I might as well take the chance and who knows who you can meet and what connections you can get, and I have friends now from across the world, lots of them in Finland, but even the other guys who were on the show, there’s one from Lebanon and one from Turkey."
The show can be viewed in Canada, but it has a large following in Finland.
"As the other guy in the show said, that we're ‘FIF’, famous in Finland," said Almusa.
He said he was able to return to his normal life when he got home, but in Finland his face appeared in tabloids and fans send him messages on Instagram.
"I still keep on thinking of myself as this little farm boy from Margo and sometimes you just have to sit and think about it and think ‘wow I actually was on this TV show," he said.
Being a celebrity and having people want to take pictures with him was one of the highlights of the experience for Almusa, but he was grateful to get to visit another part of the world in the process.
"I definitely think that this experience has brought me closer to Finland and the love of Finland, I mean we always were proud fins but you didn't really know all the things of Finland until you actually go there,"Almusa said.
He still keeps in touch with the people he met on the show, and said he remains friends with the women who vied for his heart.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
What do weight loss drugs mean for a diet industry built on eating less and exercising more?
Recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the health and fitness industries.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.
What a urologist wants you to know about male infertility
When opposite sex couples are trying and failing to get pregnant, the attention often focuses on the woman. That’s not always the case.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Made-in-Newfoundland vodka claims top prize at worldwide competition
A Newfoundland-made vodka has been named one of the world’s best by judges at this year’s World Vodka Awards.