Rejection is part of the game on reality dating shows — but Farmer Wants a Wife star John Sansone didn’t expect to face it on his first 24-hour date.
Warning: Spoilers below from season 3, episode 2, of Farmer Wants a Wife.
During the Thursday, March 27, episode of the reality series, John, 26, romanced Samantha Riehl on what he thought was the perfect date. John described Samantha, 24, as a “little bit of a firecracker,” exclusively telling Us Weekly that his first impression of the California native (who resides in Dallas) was “a very good-looking girl.”
“Then when we were sitting there on our first speed date, she kind of, like, gave me a, I dunno, different perspective on who I was dating there,” John recalled. “Everybody else seemed very eager to impress me or was very shy. She seemed the opposite. It was definitely a unique situation there.”
He confessed he was “intrigued” which is why what transpired on their date was such a surprise.
When John and Samantha were on their date, she confessed to him, “I don’t ever want to feel like I have competition. I don’t ever want to feel threatened.”
The revelation threw John for a loop because Samantha had willingly signed up for a dating show in which he would be spending time with other women. When John asked Samantha, “Are you actually looking for a guy?” she said, “Yeah, of course.”
She described her ideal man as “one that is unlike anyone else I have ever met,” which led John to lean in for a kiss.
“I cannot kiss you on camera, there is a reason for that,” Samantha said after rejecting his advance. “I’m going to marry someone someday, it might be you, it might not be you and I do not want something of me kissing another man on television. If it’s you, we don’t have anything to worry about.”
John admitted he “thought this was going a different way,” but Samantha stood her ground. “Those are my values and that is what I believe and I don’t want that of me on the internet anywhere because I want my husband to have more than that,” she added.
While John acknowledged that he respected her wishes and beliefs on the show, he told Us it definitely took him by surprise.
“Every signal under the sun said it was time to kiss her,” John exclusively told Us of that moment. “But some people — to each their own.”
He continued, “I obviously respect their decision in the sense that everybody has their own opinions and stuff.”
John played coy about how the lack of intimacy might affect Samantha’s chances of being his final pick. “It is a reality dating show, so we’ll see if that works out,” he teased.
Samantha, for her part, told the cameras on Thursday’s episode, “I think romance and intimacy is something that you can’t rush, it takes time. That’s just a boundary that I have and I will not be crossing it.”
While John and Samantha’s fate is up in the air, he has plenty of other women to focus on. One of the other ladies who caught his attention right from the start is Lily, who is 23 years old and hails from Houston.
“Lily was very sweet. She showed up, very soft-spoken and nice and that was my first impression,” John told Us. “I was just like, this girl’s very, very kind. We had a connection pretty early.”
John is one of four farmers looking for love on season 3 of Farmer Wants a Wife. Outside of Samantha and Lily, viewers will see him date Lindsey from Kailua, Hawaii, Kaylee from Houston, Chloe from Raleigh, North Carolina, Claire from Chicago, Taylor from Tampa, Florida, and Abby from Charleston, South Carolina.
Farmer Wants a Wife airs on Fox Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
