For almost two decades, Farmer Wants a Wife has stayed true to its family-friendly roots – first at Channel Nine at the helm, then Seven.
With promos promising ‘real families’ and ‘real love’ with G-rated scenes sure to put a smile on your dial, what’s not to enjoy?
Well, while Seven’s matchmaking series may be made of sugar, spice and everything nice, recent seasons have seen a secret ingredient stirred into the mix: drama.
With producers desperate to compete against Nine’s ratings monster Married At First Sight, it seems each year the wholesome reality romance spits out a new scandal.
This year is no different with season 15 set to launch on April 21 following months of controversial headlines – beginning with star presenter Samantha Armytage leaving Seven and resurfacing as the host of Nine’s Golden Bachelor.
But that’s not the only setback making ‘FWAW 15’ a cursed season. We can reveal one of the farmers behaved so wildly during filming that he was scrubbed from the final edit, and another farmer ‘pulled a Honey Badger’ by not picking a winner at all.
Presenter Samantha Armytage leaving Channel Seven’s Farmer Wants a Wife and resurfacing as the host of Nine’s Golden Bachelor isn’t the only setback to befall the cursed ‘FWAW 15’
Samantha Armytage takes her ratings with her
Former Sunrise host Samantha Armytage was the metaphorical golden goose when she was cast as the new face of FWAW in 2023.
While die-hard fans of the show raged over the injustice of long-time star Natalie Gruzlewski being quietly demoted to make way for a bigger name, producers plugged their ears and watched with glee as ratings shot up by an impressive 16 per cent.
Sam, 48, leveraged this success to bag herself a bigger paycheck hosting The Golden Bachelor on rival station Nine, after spending just two seasons on the farm.
Now, just a week and a half out from the debut of Farmer’s new season, there is ‘unease’ at Seven with Natalie, 48, back in her old job as the main host.
Whispers have spread through the network that reappointing Natalie as the face of FWAW could be seen as a step backwards for Seven’s reality TV ‘crown jewel’.
‘The fact that Natalie was quietly demoted in 2023 to make way for a bigger name hasn’t been forgotten, especially by long-time supporters of the show,’ an industry insider tells Daily Mail Australia.
Back then, the switch to Sam was hailed as a power move – and it paid off.
Scaling back the role of long-time host Natalie Gruzlewski (pictured) proved successful. Now Sam is gone and Nat is back – and network insiders are worried the show will lose its buzz
With her star power and no-nonsense style, the former breakfast TV anchor boosted ratings massively, giving the show a much-needed second wind.
‘Sam brought serious buzz,’ the insider adds. ‘Her name alone generated headlines and helped draw in a broader audience.’
But now, with Natalie back in the hosting chair, there’s quiet concern the show could lose some of that momentum.
‘If the ratings dip, don’t be surprised if Farmer Wants A Wife starts shopping around for another high-profile name [for presenter],’ says the source.
‘There’s a lot riding on this season.’
One Seven insider even suggested Natalie Barr could get the ‘tap on the shoulder’ if FWAW needs a saving in 2026.
For now, all eyes are on Natalie to see if she can win over both the farmers and the audience – all over again.
Honey Badger 2.0
Farmer Bert Harris has rugged good looks, a heart of gold and a pineapple farm straight out of a rom-com.
But his quest for love on FWAW last year doesn’t go quite to plan, says our source.
When sparks failed to fly with any of the women vying for his heart, he made a decision that stunned producers – and created a headache for the upcoming season.
‘He pulled a Honey Badger and walked away from the show alone,’ an insider reveals, referring to Nick Cummins‘ infamous exit from The Bachelor in 2018 after he dumped both finalists, Sophie Tieman and Brittany Hockley, and left the show single.
Bert made his swift exit before the end of filming after realising he simply was not developing real feelings for the remaining women.
‘Look, he’s a nice guy and at least he was honest and true to himself, but it’s not the kind of ending Channel Seven loves,’ adds our source.
‘They want love stories audiences can believe in. But Bert didn’t want to fake it.’
And despite some behind-the-scenes panic, Bert apparently has no regrets.
When sparks failed to fly with any of the women vying for his heart, farmer Bert Harris (left) made a decision that stunned producers: he chose no one and pulled a ‘Honey Badger’ (right)
‘He still stands by his choice,’ the source says. ‘He’s single, and he’s proud he stayed true to himself.’
According to production insiders, the real issue may have been the casting.
‘The women selected for Bert were great TV – but not great matches for him personally,’ according to a crew member.
‘They were there to bring the drama, and Bert saw through it pretty early.’
While the women didn’t do anything wrong, ‘they played their roles perfectly’, adds our source. The dynamic just wasn’t right for the easygoing farmer.
Our insider continues: ‘We misjudged him. We expected him to go along with more of the format, but Bert wasn’t interested in playing a part.’
Now, producers fear his departure could shake viewers’ faith in the show as a ‘factory that turns out real love stories every year’.
Producers fear farmer Bert’s departure could shake viewers’ faith in the show as a ‘factory that turns out real love stories every year’
And while early teasers promise a return to wholesome romance, word from the inside hints otherwise.
‘This next season is full of fireworks, shock exits, mass walkouts, tears, tantrums… it’s chaos,’ says our spy.
‘If fans are expecting a quiet country courtship, they’re in for a surprise.’
Farmer gets scrubbed
Readers of Inside Mail will already be familiar with the saga of Jack Rowlandson.
We’ve been telling you since December there was trouble brewing with the 26-year-old bull rider, and that was proven when the promo for this year was one farmer short.
But for those who are still in the dark about the reality TV star who never was, the short story is this: he enjoyed a few too many tumbles in the hay and was scrubbed from the final edit as a result.
The long story is this…
Readers of Inside Mail will already be familiar with the antics of Farmer Jack Rowlandson, 26
Farmer Jack, who hails from the tiny town of Oberon about a two and a half hour drive west of Sydney, was a lot looser than producers had expected.
During the nine-week shoot, rather than taking the slower, more chaste approach of farmers gone by, he was intimately linked to two different women.
One of his flames was, naturally, a female contestant on the series (who, as an aside, was later revealed to have a spicy side hustle).
The other was a random interloper Jack met during production. She, we are told, was well-aware he was taking part in a reality dating show when she had a fling with him.
Fortunately, his ‘journey’ with the two ladies didn’t overlap.
Now, while producers were willing to overlook Jack’s misbehaviour and turn it into juicy, MAFS-style television, the problem quickly became much more complex.
Compromising photos soon surfaced of the rodeo rider and word is that Jack was so distressed by the idea the images might be made public that he tried to have them deleted before the producers learned of their existence.
This photo of party boy Jack was taken during filming. Other images allegedly in circulation spooked the production company and prompted them to fire off a sternly worded legal letter
But they found out anyway.
Cue a meltdown as Eureka Productions, which makes the show for Seven, scrambled to contain the scandal, even getting lawyers to fire off an urgent legal letter to the show’s entire cast on November 17 warning them all hell was about to break loose.
The fiery missive advised contestants Eureka was aware of ‘photos and recordings taken during the production period’ which may constitute ‘Intimate Images, as defined under the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW)’.
It went on to say said images may have been ‘distributed between participants on the Program and also to external parties’.
This, of course, is a serious crime, commonly referred to as revenge porn, and punishable by three years’ jail or a hefty fine of up to $11,000.
Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting anyone involved in FWAW has committed a crime, only that the production company was sufficiently concerned about the possibility of a crime having taken place to send out a legal warning to participants.
The letter concluded: ‘If you are in possession of an Intimate Image, whether of a participant from the Program or not, you must not distribute it via any means and you must delete it immediately.
‘Failure to comply with this direction may have serious legal consequences.’
Eureka Productions got lawyers to send out this urgent legal letter to the show’s entire cast on November 17 warning them all hell was about to break loose
For his part, we understand Jack categorically insists he never consented to posing for nude images in the first place – let alone them being shared.
We were also told police were never called in to conduct a formal investigation or interview any of the parties involved.
The entire ordeal wound up being a costly ordeal for Jack and Eureka.
The production company poured tens of thousands of dollars into re-shooting key sequences to cover the open wounds left by Jack’s unexpected exit.
Insiders said the unforeseen expenses had a devastating impact on the show’s bottom line at a time when it was also reeling from Armytage’s defection to Nine.
As for Jack, the last time we heard from him he was disappointed to have abandoned his actual farm duties for more than two months so he could be filmed around the clock for the show only to be completely cut from the program at the eleventh hour.
