Get to know the Wisconsin All-American gymnast who's on Fox's 'Farmer Wants a Wife' starting Thursday
When Karina Sabol isn't working or coaching gymnastics, she's hanging out with her "best friends" (aka her family), hiking with her parents' dogs (she considers herself their "fun aunt"), horseback riding, snowshoeing ...
... or being on a reality TV dating show.
When Sabol's friend suggested last year that the two of them should apply for "Love Island," Sabol had been learning about a different dating show — one that she felt was more her vibe:
The Madison resident was right, being cast on "FWAW" Season 3, which premieres at 8 p.m. CT Thursday on Fox (and streams on Hulu the next day). Sabol and a handful of other daters will be attempting to wrangle the heart of J'Marick "Jay" Woods .
In addition to Woods, there'll be three other farmers — Matt Warren, John Sansone and Colton Hendricks — each with a crop of daters looking to "leave behind city life for the charm of the country as they embark on an adventure that could change the course of their lives forever," the network said in a news release.
Season 3 will kick off with 32 total daters , including Sabol.
"My family was shocked about the show, in general," said Sabol, who has five siblings. "I was never going to be one that they thought would be on a reality TV show. But, when they found out it was called 'Farmer Wants a Wife,' they thought it was actually pretty fitting."
Cleaning horses, mucking stalls and helping run fence line — Sabol grew up doing it all at her family's Cross Plains horse farm. Woods — a hay and cattle farmer from Florence, Alabama — grew up on his grandfather's horse farm, Fox said in a news release.
Sabol is a former All-American gymnast at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. She overcame a bilateral elbow dislocation as a high schooler to get there. Woods, an impressive former athlete, played football for Michigan and Duke. But his original dream of becoming a pro athlete while playing football at Duke was crushed due to an injury, according to Fox.
Growing up, Woods was into anything that kept him outdoors and surrounded by animals. Sabol is an outdoors enthusiast. It's kind of her job, actually — more on that later.
Plus, one of Sabol's sisters married into a dairy farming family. Another barrel-raced around the country.
On paper, it looks like Sabol and Woods would be a match made in "FWAW" heaven. Will it turn out that way?
From who Sabol is to how she ended up on a dating show, here's what to know:
Injury almost derailed her gymnastics dreams, but Karina Sabol persevered and went on to become an All-American
Sabol, 24, started gymnastics at age 5, though her older sisters taught her a thing or two ahead of time, she said. She trained at Madtown Twisters in Madison from around age 6 through high school.
From a pretty young age, she said, she knew she wanted to take her gymnastics career as far as it could go.
"Gymnastics was a space that I could really evaluate and push myself," she said. "And it provides results of what you put in is what you get out of it."
But, during club gymnastics her sophomore season — "the turning point when you want to go big in college gymnastics" — she'd face the most impactful event of her life.
Sabol was executing a toe shoot on the uneven bars, going from the low bar to the high bar, when she missed the high bar, she said. Because of her rotation, she came down in a handstand, dislocating both of her elbows and tearing some tendons and ligaments.
"I was very lucky that it didn't effect my spine, my head, anything of that sort that left long-term effects," she said. "So, very blessed for that."
Sabol spent weeks in double arm braces, then several more weeks in what she described as "RoboCop" arms.
Unable to write for the rest of the school year, her Middleton High School teachers helped her figure out new ways to learn, she said, from doing math problems verbally to having one-on-one meetings for tests.
"I learned different things because of the injury, but I also learned what I loved about gymnastics and how much I had for the passion of the sport," she said. "Getting back into it was definitely a major goal of mine at that time."
She achieved it her junior year. And, in addition to club gymnastics, she joined her high school's team.
After graduating in 2019, Sabol chose to attend UW-Whitewater for its gymnastics program, business school and fairly close proximity to her family.
While Sabol only did gymnastics her first two years of college, her accolades for floor exercise included National Collegiate Gymnastics Association All-America, the Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association first team All-America, the NCGA West All-Championship Team, Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference/NCGA West Regional champion (All-WIAC) and first team All-Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, among others. She was also honored for her academics, including WCGA Scholastic All-America.
Heading into Sabol's third and final year of school — she graduated a year early, in 2022 — she felt that her body was done with the sport and that she was ready to close the chapter on competing.
During her senior year, Sabol — who was studying business administration — began working with Delafield-based Gunpowder Incorporated , a public relations and advertising agency that specializes in outdoor and active lifestyle brands. She's been with them ever since.
As the agency's new business and operations manager, Sabol wears "a lot of hats" — and that's the way she likes it.
"It really does have that family feel that I have in my personal life," she said. "So, it's a really great spot to be in."
Sabol continues to live out her love of gymnastics and pass it on to the next generations of gymnasts, coaching at Lake City Twisters Gymnastics in Madison, as well as volunteering with the Mount Horeb High School gymnastics team.
"Having done it, I think I'm able to bring those kids back to the reality of, 'This is really hard. And, what you're doing, not many people can do.' And, taking the little wins and kind of changing their mindsets to be better people in general — that's my favorite part of coaching," Sabol said.
When she's not working or coaching, here's what Karina Sabol enjoys doing
In the winter, Sabol snowshoes and hikes the Ice Age Trail with her parents' dogs — there are four of them. When summer rolls around, she's exploring downtown Madison.
For years, Sabol has been taking trips to the Lake Wisconsin area, where Vintage Brewing Co. Sauk Prairie, Devil's Lake State Park and boating to sand bars are musts.
"Anything that gets me outside are my primary go-to spots," she said.
For the Sabols, Sundays are for family dinners.
With the family having four horses, Sabol is an avid rider.
"You are kind of being thrilled by it," she said. "Yes, you have control of it, but there is a level of unpredictability and adventure and just a different feeling that I get in my heart when I ride horses."
How Karina Sabol ended up on 'Farmer Wants a Wife'
Last year, Sabol had been hearing about "FWAW" on the "Discover Ag" podcast she regularly listens to.
"They just give quick recaps of it. And, as things would come up that would catch my eye, I would go watch the clips," Sabol said.
While reality TV isn't usually her thing, Sabol and her friend were watching "Love Island" around that time.
"She was like, 'We should apply,'" Sabol said. "And, I was like, 'I'm not going to fit on 'Love Island,' but I just heard about this show called 'Farmer Wants a Wife.' I think that's more of a fit.'"
After dating on-and-off during college, Sabol turned to dating apps when she returned to Madison post-grad.
"They're not really my vibe," she said. "I just think that, a lot of the time with dating apps, it's very surface-level. And, you get one glimpse of someone and you have to make a decision right there and then. And, that's not really how I like to meet people."
While she met some prospects through mutual friends, nothing stuck.
So, Sabol applied for "FWAW" last summer. After going through the casting process, she got word that she had made it on.
"I was very shocked," Sabol said.
She left for filming around September. She thinks thaving the spotlight on her while performing as a gymnast for years gave her a level of comfort in front of the camera that she wouldn't have had otherwise.
"We do some really fun things," Sabol said. "You guys will hopefully get to see our authentic truth about ourselves and our relationships."
What was 'Farmer Wants a Wife' dater Karina Sabol's first impression of Farmer Jay Woods?
"I was definitely interested in him for a few reasons, but primarily, him having athletic experience," Sabol said. "I usually tend to date athletes because of who they and what they represent."
Whether someone played a sport in high school or college, she said, they tend to have grit, a work ethic and goals for themselves.
"I feel like I can relate to guys a little bit more when they have that experience," she said. "And so, as much as (Farmer Jay) is charming and attractive, he also I think resembles a lot of those traits."
What did Karina Sabol think of her fellow 'Farmer Wants a Wife' daters?
"I think all of the women on that show has truly made me realize there's so much more in the world, there's so much more we could be doing to make an impact," Sabol said. "There's some really, really amazing women on that show that I'm excited for people to get to meet and learn about."
Has Karina Sabol connected with former Wisconsin 'Farmer Wants a Wife' star Grace Girard ?
The two Wisconsin gals recently connected via Instagram and plan to meet in Milwaukee.
"She sounds amazing — what Wisconsinite isn't?" Sabol said.
In 2023, Girard — who lived in Caledonia — applied and got cast on Season 2 of "Farmer Wants a Wife." It filmed that fall and aired last year.
On the season finale, Colorado farmer Brandon Rogers chose Girard . The two split shortly after filming ended, but had remained close friends , Girard told the Journal Sentinel around that time.
But, it wasn't long before Girard found love in her own backyard .
How to watch the 'Farmer Wants a Wife' Season 3 premiere
The "FWAW" Season 3 premiere airs at 8 p.m. CT Thursday on Fox (and streams on Hulu the next day).
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Farmer Wants a Wife: Madison, Wisconsin's Karina Sabol, former gymnast
