[1] Farmer was born in Ethiopia[2] to American parents, and grew up in Towson, Maryland, and attended college at Tulane University, where he studied architecture.

It was a year later, that Farmer found himself again on stage playing stadiums and arenas, this time with the spoof Boy band 2gether, which included opening for Britney Spears on her 2000 Oops!...

In New York City, Farmer found representation from Abrams Artists Agency and began booking jobs as a print model and actor in national commercials and on soaps including a recurring stint on the Guiding Light.

Farmer has also made guest star appearances in JAG, Working Class, DAG, and voiced several characters on MTV's cartoons; Daria and Celebrity Death Match.

By 2003, Farmer was in the perfect position to leverage his construction, and architecture background to the burgeoning home make over genre, and became the host of TLC's While You Were Out, a show where an individual sets up a friend or family member with a surprise room redecoration with the help of a crew of designers and carpenters in only 2 days.

[6] In 2010, Farmer took over as host of CMT's weekly show, Top 20 Countdown for which he was also a producer, replacing Lance Smith, who held the job for eight years.