While it’s no secret that reality TV isn’t exactly real any more, viewers have turned on the one show that prides itself on finding “real love” – Farmer Wants A Wife.
With the 2024 season kicking off, fans have begun to wonder who sets up the romantic dates? With many believing the show is “staged.” However, Farmer Bert has revealed the gentlemen hold some weight behind the creative process.
“They’re all based off of our ideas,” Bert told Yahoo Lifestyle. “I guess there’s probably some bits that are added into it that maybe were suggested. But, you know, they’re all our ideas of a date, like sitting at the dam and just having a bit of a picnic or whatever, or just somewhere nice on the property – that is probably something that we would do.”
While the romantic element like candles and cushions are made picture perfect for television by crew, its clear the farmers do have the romantic touch!
(Image: Seven)
In 2021 fans were suspicious of FWAW when residents from the tiny towns that the farmers hailed from were coming out in droves to reveal the lengths producers have gone to in order to create the show’s backdrops – and some of them would rival the sets seen on a Hollywood film.
In one comment posted to Instagram, a confused viewer – and resident of Orbost, a small country town in East Gippsland, Victoria, where Farmer Matt lives – drew attention to the fact that the local pub used for one date was slightly misleading.
“I live in Orbost and I can tell you that the pub on tonight’s episode is definitely not the pub in Orbost,” she wrote, shortly after last Wednesday night’s episode aired.
“We have one pub here and one in Marlo, 10 minutes down the road, and neither of those were in tonight’s episode! The date Matt took the girl on, to a winery, wouldn’t be within 100km of Orbost either.”
One fan, who claimed to live in Farmer Matt’s town of Orbost, wrote online that the pub seen in a recent episode wasn’t in fact even in Orbost.
(Credit: Channel 7)The viewer then went on to claim that extras were brought in to liven up the place.
“None of the ‘regulars’ were even Orbost people! Very interesting watching your own so-called town [on TV].”
Before the show had even started, locals were also bringing into question the authenticity of the farmers, with some saying Farmer Sam wasn’t the sheep and cropping farmer he claimed to be – and was instead a city slicker from Sydney who works as a truck driver.
“He isn’t even a farmer! He used his brother’s farm on the show,” one bemused fan, who lives in Sam’s supposed town of Canowindra, NSW, wrote on a social media post.
However Sam since addressed the rumours with a heartfelt post on Instagram, explaining: “I want to address the criticism and rumours that are currently circulating regarding my time spent on @farmeraustralia and my life outside of the show.
“The farm you see in the show is a family farm. I have a partnership with my brother and I never once claimed that it is explicitly mine. I would hate to take that away from my brother.
“I split my time between the farm and nearby Orange, where I took Mackenzie for our date. My brother and sister-in-law are great people, but you don’t always want to be the third wheel.
Before the show had even started, locals were also bringing into question the authenticity of the farmers, with some saying Farmer Sam, 24, wasn’t the sheep and cropping farmer he claimed to be – and was instead a city slicker from Sydney who works as a truck driver!
(Credit: Channel 7)Sam continued his post, addressing other aspects viewers have picked and prodded him about: “I’m just like every other person out there – sometimes two incomes are needed to pay the bills. I drive trucks as a second income and that’s never been a secret.
“Life is still going on while filming is happening. On the few days we had off, I still had to attend to work and life commitments and it was pretty challenging.
He also explained that his mother’s health had been an issue and “something I had trouble processing, so some days, like every human, I’d have a hard time. I didn’t want to have to talk about this out of respect to my mum’s privacy, but I feel I need to address this to be completely transparent.
He added: “I never had a girlfriend while filming. I went on this show to experience life and love and form new connections. I could never do that to someone and I could never do that to myself. It’s not in my nature.”
