Host Sabrina Jalees Sets Up Season 2 of FARMING FOR LOVE: ‘It’s Like We’re on Our Second Date, and We’ve Had Martinis’

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede Host Sabrina Jalees didn’t hesitate when asked what fans should be looking forward to in Season 2 of FARMING FOR LOVE. “I would say fans, first of all, you know I love you, baby, I love each and every one of you,” Jalees said. “Now, if you liked Season 1, oooh, Season 2 is sexier. It is more scandalous. There’s more passion. And I’m just talking about my host intros and outros. On top of all that, we’ve got the farmers and the daters.” That sure sounds like a solid plan for success as Season 2 of FARMING FOR LOVE debuts on Wednesday, May 29, at 10 p.m. ET on CTV, CTV.ca, and the CTV app. Based on a hit international format, the series follows a group of single farmers as they each nurture multiple simultaneous relationships with their hand-picked daters, in an attempt to cultivate a true and lasting connection. All kidding aside – which is tough for Jalees, as a well-travelled Canadian comedian, actress, writer, and host – she honestly believes that Season 2 is more edgy than Season 1. “In the second season, we’ve got some tongues in some mouths, we’ve got some steaminess,” Jalees said. “It’s like we’re on our second date, and we’ve had martinis. The first season was a show that you would make to impress everyone in the family. But this time, it’s airing at 10 p.m., and we’re going to get a little bit sexy.” While the first season featured five farmers, there are four in Season 2, which Jalees said gives the show more time to focus on their stories. There’s Erin, a second-generation soil-to-shelf dairy farmer from Creston, B.C.; Josh, a hockey-playing, cowboy-hat-wearing dairy farmer from Chilliwack, B.C.; Mischa, a fourth-generation beekeeper and orchardist from Lillooet, B.C.; and Kirkland, a two-spirit, gay former rodeo champion-turned-cattle farmer and horse boarder from Rosedale, B.C. “One thing that truly felt special for me this season was having a gay farmer – that meant a lot,” Jalees said. “And I think that storyline will mean a lot to people watching, too. The motto that’s batted around during Gay Pride – ‘love is love’ – it’s like, beyond the platitude, there is a real sense of ‘imagine’ … imagine when I was younger, seeing a gay farmer on TV, and connecting, and dating, and just being a real person in the dating world, that would have meant so much to me. So it’s exciting to have that storyline there, and I certainly was glued to the monitors every time farmer Kirkland was on his dates. And of course, that farm has great fashion.” Season 2 begins with seven daters for each of the four farmers. But by the end of the first episode, those numbers are cut to five daters each. That’s a fast and brutal severance! “It is,” Jalees agreed. “We have a pure heart, but we’re also a TV show, so some of the stuff we do is a little twisted. Hey, you’ve heard the love songs. Love is pain. Love is hard. Love is cutting seven down to five. That’s the latest Beyoncé country song.” Besides, Jalees said, having each farmer take seven daters back to their respective farms would just be too much, wouldn’t it? “Five is fun, seven’s a crowd,” she said with certainty. “You can’t split your eye contact seven ways. You can maybe make five people feel ‘seen’ at a dinner table, but seven? No. Honestly, put it this way: if I’m trying to do a comedy show, and there are five people in the crowd, I might wrap it up quickly, because it’s too intimate. But seven? We might do the whole two-hour show. And we might post on Instagram that we sold out.” Numbers aside, Jalees – who also is one of the judges on CTV Comedy Channel’s ROAST BATTLE CANADA, which returns for its fourth season on June 3 – can’t wait for romantics everywhere to cuddle up with Season 2 of FARMING FOR LOVE. “Late Wednesday evenings, you pour yourself a wine or a mocktail, sit down, you start filing away at your feet, and you just watch the show, and you moisturize your feet,” she said. “Look, you’ll be on a journey, the farmers are on a journey, and your feet will never have looked better.” Hold on, Sabrina – do you have some kind of sponsorship deal with a footcare company that we don’t know about? “No,” she replied. “I just have seen a lot of feet, and I think we could do better.” [email protected] @billharris_tv