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
Humboldt Broncos crash victims and families react to decision to deport truck driver
The family of one of the victims of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash in 2018 says they are 'thankful' for a decision by a Calgary immigration board to deport the driver of the truck involved.
A woman took her dog to a shelter to be euthanized. A year later, the dog is up for adoption again
Exhausted and short on options after consulting two veterinary clinics, Kristie Pereira made the gut-wrenching decision last year to take her desperately ill puppy to a Maryland shelter to be euthanized.
Toddler dies after being struck by recycling truck in Barrie, Ont. neighbourhood
A toddler has died after being struck by a recycling truck in a Barrie, Ont. neighbourhood on Thursday afternoon.
Community mourns victims of fatal boat crash near Kingston, Ont.
The three people killed in last weekend's tragic collision between a speedboat and a fishing boat north of Kingston are being remembered Friday.
'God forgives but we don’t': Loud outburst from stabbing victim’s family during sentencing hearing
An emotional outburst in a London, Ont. courtroom Friday disrupted the sentencing hearing of a woman who pleaded guilty for her part in the death of a 29-year-old Mohammed Abdallah.
Governments must disaster-proof Canada's hospitals against climate change: experts
Last month, the Canadian Medical Association warned that Canada's health-care facilities are among the oldest public infrastructure in use. Half were built more than 50 years ago, making them especially vulnerable to extreme climate events.
Luciano Benetton says he's stepping down as chairman of family-run brand as losses top US$100 million
Luciano Benetton, a co-founder of the apparel brand, announced he was stepping down as chairman in an interview published on Saturday with Milan daily Corriere della Sera. He blamed current management for losses of 100 million euros (US$108.5 million) that he discovered last year.
1 dead, 3 in hospital after flying wheel crashes into bus windshield on QEW
A man is dead, and three others are in hospital after a flying wheel crashed into a coach bus on the QEW in St. Catharines.
NASA launches tiny CubeSat to set its sights on Earth
NASA has launched the first of two research satellites to measure how much heat is lost to space from the Arctic and Antarctica.