Warning: Spoilers ahead from Fox's "Farmer Wants a Wife" Season 2
As we saw last week, Farmer Brandon Rogers chose Wisconsin sweetheart Grace Girard during the season finale of Fox's "Farmer Wants a Wife."
But, was anyone else wondering what Girard was up to leading up to decision day? How about what was she feeling during it? And, where did she get that fabulous printed pink mesh finale dress? (In Milwaukee, actually.)
She gave us a behind-the-scenes glimpse into all of that and more, plus a sneak peek of what happened after the cameras stopped rolling ahead of Thursday night's reunion episode:
What Grace Girard was up to between Farmer Brandon's visit to Wisconsin and decision day
The last time we saw Girard ahead of decision day was when Rogers visited Caledonia to meet her family.
Girard's posse, especially her dad, loved Rogers and thought he was super-nice, genuine and down-to-earth, she told the Journal Sentinel in a phone interview this week.
"They were all for me putting myself out there with him and seeing where it went," she said.
Girard felt really good about how Rogers vibed with her family. However, she noted that tough convo they had about what a big adjustment it would be for Girard — who's tight with her family and more of a city gal — to move to Rogers' neck of the woods. His potato and barley farm is in uber-remote Center, Colorado.
"There was deep thought that went into that process from that point forward and really made me think about things," Girard said.
After Rogers headed out to his other final dater's hometown, Girard was able to spend a few days at home alone with her family and got to go out with friends. She also went shopping for finale fit options and submitted photos of them to the show for selection.
It was really nice being around loved ones, who she hadn't seen since filming began about six weeks prior, Girard said. But, also tough with Rogers' decision looming and figuring out where her head was at.
"It was not a super-fun time," she said. "I was so happy when it was over."
Around two days before the big decision, Girard flew back out to Colorado, where she was put up in a hotel.
After doing some additional filming, she tried to keep her mind off things by journaling, reading, working out and talking to her family.
Grace Girard walks us through decision day from her perspective
On decision day, Girard got up and got ready for filming. The dress she wore was from Anthropologie in the Third Ward.
While Girard and her co-finalist,Emerson Sears, had the same call time, they were taken to Rogers' farm in separate vehicles, Girard said.
Sears was up first. Girard hoped that was a good sign.
"I was kind of just waiting and twiddling my thumbs," Girard said. "It was super-nerve-wracking."
As her vehicle approached the farm, "a million thoughts" flooded her mind.
"I was definitely nervous," she said. "I didn't really know what to think. I definitely felt confident in me and Brandon. And, I felt super-confident in what I had put out there for myself. Leading up to that decision, your mind is just going a mile a minute. So, I was just trying to think of everything that could happen and what he was maybe thinking."
On one hand, she was looking forward to wrapping up the process. On the other, she didn't want it to end because of how much she enjoyed living on the farm and everything that came along with it.
"I knew it was going to be a big change, no matter what happened for me," she said.
But, as soon as she saw Rogers, her nerves all but disappeared, she said.
"Looking at him, I was like, 'OK, I can do this,'" she said. "He's definitely been calming for me the whole season."
As Rogers gave his speech — you can find out what he said here — it was hard to tell which direction he was going, Girard said.
"Throughout the season, I was pretty confident in our connection," she said. "But, there's always just doubt in the back of my mind ... I just didn't know what he was thinking or what he wanted to do. I knew he felt a certain way about me, but I just didn't know if he was ready to take that leap."
As we found out during the season finale, he was.
"I really feel like we have established a really good emotional connection," Rogers told Girard. "So, I would like to see where that emotional connection would take us."
"It felt really good," Girard told the Journal Sentinel. "It was like all of this hard work has led up to this moment as far as putting myself emotionally through the ringer and just trying to be myself the whole time and put myself out there. So, it was definitely a moment of relief of just being like, 'OK, it worked out and he's meeting me halfway.'"
Looking back at the season, these were Grace Girard's favorite moments
Girard's favorite moments throughout the season were whenever she and Rogers got teary-eyed at each other, including off-camera.
"We were emotionally on the same wavelength," she said. "I feel like we've always had that connection, so that was really cool to see play out because we were just able to emotionally, totally connect."
What was hard to watch for Grace Girard?
Two words: Solo dates.
While she tired to be supportive of Rogers' other daters on the farm, it was difficult for her to watch the person she was dating date others.
"I felt throughout the season that I tried to keep my relationship with him separate from his relationship with others," she said. "So, seeing that play out and being forced to watch that was a little bit of a struggle."
How Grace Girard felt her relationship with Farmer Brandon was portrayed on the show
"I feel like for the most part, what you guys saw was pretty genuinely me and how our relationship developed for me and Brandon," Girard said.
But "selfishly," she said, she wished more of her moments with him made the final cut because it would have been fun to see them play out.
Sneak peek of what happened after the cameras stopped rolling
After the decision, Girard asked production if she could postpone her flight back to Milwaukee by a few days so she and her farmer could share some time together minus the cameras.
Girard stayed in the San Luis Valley area and got to see the Great Sand Dunes, meet some of Rogers' friends and go out to dinner with his family, she said.
"It was super-nice," Girard said. "It was definitely a relief for both of us. It's weird to be in situations where there's always other people around you. And then, it was all-of-a-sudden, we were like alone. It was a little bit of an adjustment. But at the same time, I feel like we had genuinely gotten to know each other, so there weren't any barriers with that, which was nice."
What's happened since? The Season 2 reunion episode airs at 8 p.m. CT Thursday on Fox.
The cast will take a look back at some of the season's most dramatic moments. And, the couples will share what happened after the cameras stopped rolling — and if they're still together.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Farmer Wants a Wife: Behind-the-scenes with Grace, sneak peek reunion
