'Welcome to Wrexham' Fans Plan Real-Life Move to Welsh City After Watching Ryan Reynolds Show

The show 'Welcome to Wrexham' has been transcendent to the town, the local football club and Wales as a whole. The reality show starring and produced by movie star Ryan Reynolds and TV star Rob McElhenney is the best tourism ad for the city in northeast Wales. So much so that a Texan couple plans to move there permanently.

Jeff and Janice Ivey are from New Braunfels in Texas—but not for long. Jeff is already house-hunting in Wrexham. The move will be easier for him as the 62-year-old has UK citizenship due to his Scottish ancestry. Janice, 65, has put their Texan home on the market while awaiting her visa.

Ryan Reynolds Jokes About the Move

Upon learning of the Iveys' move from Texas to Wrexham, Reynolds tweeted, tongue-in-cheek: 'Thank god they didn't watch Chernobyl.' The 'Deadpool' actor was referring to the HBO limited series 'Chernobyl,' which followed the story of the 1986 nuclear plant disaster in the then Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic of the Soviet Union.

Jeff and Janice said they enjoyed watching 'Welcome to Wrexham' and fell in love with the city in the process. They have since visited Wales seven times since 2024, culminating in the decision to finally move. 'We just felt so good about the community aspect of Wrexham,' said Jeff.

But while the city is great, it was the people that really sealed the deal for the couple. They described Wrexhamites as 'welcoming and friendly.' Not only that, there was seemingly no 'elitism or snobbery.'

The couple also said that they didn't feel out of place in Wrexham. They both grew up in mining communities in Pennsylvania. Wrexham used to be the centre for coal and mining.

'Wrexham is a working-class town. It's got a rich legacy in history. The people and the history remind us of places that we grew up,' said Jeff. The Ivey couple stayed for a month during their last visit to Wrexham. They wanted to experience what it would be like living there permanently.

Of course, the couple already purchased season tickets to the Wrexham A.F.C. games. Jeff will be cheering hard for the team that helped inspire their move to the Welsh city: 'They can get promoted, relegated. It doesn't matter. That's our club. We're not coming for the club; that's a plus. We're coming for the community.'

Wrexham's Transformation

'Welcome to Wrexham' premiered on 24 August 2022 on FX. Soon, interest in the city and the club gained traction, leading to massive transformation in both aspects. The city also greatly benefited from the series as annual tourism reached two million, a 20% increase from the previous record. Several local businesses, from pubs to bed-and-breakfasts, have reported surges in customers, crediting the show for putting Wrexham on the global map.

McElhenney and Reynolds didn't just create a reality show. They purchased Wrexham A.F.C. in 2021 for just £2 million ($2.7 million); it is now worth £350 million ($472 million). The show featured the club's journey. Since then, the club has secured three consecutive promotions—a first in English football. Wrexham just missed promotion to the Premier League this season, but finished 7th, the team's best-ever finish.