This season of Farmer Wants a Wife has had its fair share of drama, but it’s a missing detail—rather than the on-screen conflict—that has viewers up in arms: where is all the farm work?!
While the series is intended to spotlight the blossoming romances between the farmers and their ladies, what makes Farmer Wants a Wife different to other reality TV dating shows is – while it feels almost too obvious to point out – the farm. With the best track record for lasting success stories in Australian TV history, fans love the show for its authenticity.
However, between the controversial addition of Farmer Zac’s Miranda and the multiple voluntary exits from ladies this season, fans are concerned that the contestants don’t quite know what they’re signing up for, and that the show is drifting too close to Married at First Sight territory.
To understand the behind-the-scenes drivers for the lack of farm work shown this season, WHO spoke to Jarrad Wrigley and Bert Harris – from the 2025 and 2024 seasons of Farmer Wants a Wife, respectively – unpacking what it was actually like to manage farm work and filming. We were not expecting their answers!
Fans call Farmer Wants a Wife ‘fake’ as drama replaces actual work
One of the major gripes that fans have with this season is the lack of footage showing what “farm life” really entails, particularly given these ladies are on the show to hopefully have that very future.
“Are they going to actually film anything on the farms?” one fan questioned online.
“Apparently not,” another viewer replied. “Which is a shame as I think some of the girls would actually enjoy it and that is what they signed up for!”
“Feels fake!!” one viewer declared. “Over the years, it was real, but this year, you look at the girls and unfortunately, some really are there for other reasons!! Time to get down and really get into work on the farm!! Too much look at me !! Get your hands dirty ladies!! That is farm work”
“Show us more real farming, in the dairy or out in the paddocks fixing fences, checking the waters,” one fan wrote. “Not sitting around cat fighting, doing nails and colouring in.”
While many viewers have had strong opinions about this missing detail from the show, others have been more balanced in their critique, noting that they “love the show” but want to see more of what “farm life” is all about, particularly given that it “is not for everyone.”
Former farmers reveal the ‘difficult’ reality of filming
Speaking to WHO, both Harris and Wrigley revealed that the omission of everyday farm life isn’t actually a new trend—it happened during their seasons, too.
“Oh boy, managing the farm work and filming varies from farm to farm depending on the time of year,” Harris told WHO. “For me, it was very difficult as I was in the middle of harvest and planting.”
Harris also added: “I did for sure notice the producers wanted a lot more of the “sit down and chat” rather than the farm work. I’m unsure if that’s to make it similar to MAFS or more red tape through insurances/liability issues. We had to find 5 jobs for the girls to help with throughout the filming and while a lot of them wanted to help more they were not allowed.”
However, for Wrigley, he understood why there wasn’t as heavy a focus on some of the repetitive tasks involved in farm life, but also believed Channel Seven was missing an opportunity to “platform to showcase Australian agriculture” and be “more than just a dating show.”
“Realistically, we didn’t actually get to do much farm work,” Wrigley said. “At the end of the day, it’s a show about dating, and for the most part, what people want to see is some love story, but I do think it’s important to showcase agriculture, and that’s what I wish had been more so the case.”
“I don’t know, do audiences really want to see a whole bunch of blokes just fencing all day and making women work? Who knows?”
Thinking in that mindset, Wrigley compared his contestants’ experience on his farm to being “on a little bit of a holiday” over actually doing farm work.
“If there was a night where I couldn’t go and grab some kindling to start a fire, the girls would do it, or if I wasn’t around to cook dinner, the girls would do it,” Wrigley said. “It’s no different to living in a share house.”
Although outside of those general household chores, he admitted that he” didn’t really ask the girls too much to help” with farm work.
“They’re kind of on a little bit of a holiday in a way,” he added, referring to the show. “I don’t need to have them there working, getting some free labour out of them.”
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