"Farmer Wants a Wife" and X Ambassadors: Who Sadly Reached Out First?

“Farmer Wants a Wife” is a trainwreck dating reality show in its fourth season on Fox. The franchise started internationally and apparently has been successful in Australia. The American version, on the other hand, has featured 12 farmers over three seasons, and none of the “winning couples” are still together. My prediction is that this unblemished record of failure continues through Season 4.

The show format works like this: On the first night, all of the farmers are in a central location where they have speed dates with many different girls. Each farmer then chooses five girls to go live with him on the farm.

From there, the seasons play out as you’d expect. There are montages of the girls trying to work on the farm, the farmers have one-on-one dates, there is drama with the contestants, etc. People are there “for the wrong reasons.” People are encouraged to “trust the process,” a la Joel Embiid with the Philadelphia 76ers. Ultimately, each farmer proposes to his last remaining girl, and then we find out in the reunion special that they all broke up a few minutes after filming ended.

The current season has three farmers – Farmer Sean in California, Farmer Braden in Illinois, and Farmer Brett in Tennessee.

Side Note: You are apparently required to put “Farmer” in front of each name, the same way you must say “Chef” before each name on a cooking competition. It’s the farming equivalent of Gordon Ramsay yelling, “You didn’t elevate the seasoning on the Chilean sea bass, Chef Kaitlyn!”

On last week’s episode, entitled “A Rumor Rocks the Farm,” a scandal hits Farmer Sean’s house. One of the girls, Macey, heard from another girl who heard from another girl that Farmer Sean promised Emily she was going to be the winner. Macey confronts Farmer Sean about this and wants answers.

Farmer Sean explains to Macey that he didn’t tell Emily she’s going to be the winner – she must have misunderstood him or is lying. Macey doesn’t seem satisfied and says she wants to leave the farm. She begins to fake cry, and the two of them hug. At this point, the chorus to “Unsteady” by X Ambassadors starts to play in the background.

 Hold, hold on, hold onto me / ‘Cause I’m a little unsteady / A little unsteady

The episode's dramatic moment

This begs the question: Who reached out to whom for permission to use this song? My first thought was that this was a good get from the Fox Network – it’s a well-known song, and the lyrics actually fit the scene.

But the ratings for this show are terrible, and after host Kimberly Williams-Paisley’s salary, there can’t be much left in the music budget. I also realize that X Ambassadors haven’t really had a hit in nearly ten years, so maybe their cash flow has run dry.

I’m genuinely torn if lead singer Sam Harris reached out to Fox and said, “Let’s work out a deal for next season when a girl starts to cry,” or if Fox initiated by offering $50 cash and a hot meal to the band. A wildcard scenario: Because the music clip was played very briefly, maybe it was not enough to require any sort of legal permission? So the band didn’t get paid and the show didn’t get ratings. Failures galore!

Blessings to Kimberly Williams-Paisley for hitting rock bottom, blessings to X Ambassadors for reporting earned income in 2026, and blessings to the “Farmer Wants a Wife” franchise for soon batting 0 for 15 in successful relationships!