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
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
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.
Pilot reported fire onboard plane carrying fuel, attempted to return to Fairbanks just before crash
One of the two pilots aboard an airplane carrying fuel reported there was a fire on the airplane shortly before it crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both people on board, a federal aviation official said Wednesday.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
7 surveillance videos linked to extortions of South Asian home builders in Edmonton released
The Edmonton Police Service has released a number of surveillance videos related to a series of extortion cases in the city now dubbed 'Project Gaslight.'
Ukraine uses long-range missiles secretly provided by U.S. to hit Russian-held areas, officials say
Ukraine for the first time has begun using long-range ballistic missiles provided secretly by the United States, bombing a Russian military airfield in Crimea last week and Russian forces in another occupied area overnight, American officials said Wednesday.