Ryan Reynolds' hilarious response as Texas couple move to Wrexham after seeing documentary

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FT Desk

AFC Wrexham have become a lot of people's second favourite club following the success of the Welcome to Wrexham documentary, which thrust the small city into the spotlight around the world.

Welcome to Wrexham documents the trials and tribulations of the club following their game-changing takeover by Hollywood superstars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.

The money injected into the club from Tinseltown has allowed for three straight promotions from the National League to the English Championship. In the 2025/26 season, they narrowly missed out on a position in the playoffs that would have given them an opportunity to battle for a place in the Premier League.

The club is now hugely popular in the United States due to Welcome to Wrexham being aired on Disney+. In fact, one couple decided to move to Wales to be near the club from their home in Texas.

Thank god they didn’t watch Chernobyl https://t.co/kuyBuVEVdL

— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) August 10, 2026

After visiting Wales seven times in just over two years, Jeff and Janice Ivey opted to make the move permanent.

"We just felt so good about the community aspect of Wrexham," Jeff admitted, saying that it was the people of the city who convinced them for being so "welcoming and friendly" with a "lack of elitism or snobbery".

"[Wrexham] is a working-class town. It's got a rich legacy in history. The people and the history definitely reminds us of places that we grew up."

Interestingly, the genesis of the idea came from a purchase of merchandise that didn't go according to plan.

After watching an episode of Welcome to Wrexham which featured the band, Declan Swans, Jeff decided to buy some of the band's merch. When one hoodie instead of two arrived, he contacted band member Michael Hett.

After the pair exchanged emails, Hett suggested Jeff and Janice visit Wrexham and from there they went back and forth to the US, eventually deciding to settle in Wales.

"If the order had come just fine, I would have sent an email saying, 'hey, thanks, got it,' and that probably would have been it," Jeff revealed.

"Because we had to keep emailing after that, it really piqued our interest."

Jeff explained that their personal backgrounds also helped them develop a connection with the city. Janice was raised in a mining community in Pennsylvania, while Jeff is originally from Pittsburgh, an industrial city known for its history of mining, steel and manufacturing, similarities he felt closely mirrored Wrexham.

After hearing the story, Reynolds was typically witty in his response as he posted on X, "Thank God they didn't watch Chernobyl", in reference to the hugely popular HBO show which outlined the days surrounding the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.