It’s supposed to be the most wholesome of the reality shows, but Farmer Wants A Wife has been hit with claims it became an on-set nightmare for the participants this year, with a number of the farmers halting filming and even leaving the show early after clashing with producers.
ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST!
According to reports, soft-spoken Bert exits early this week after failing to find love, and while he blames being too busy with his farming duties, an insider has revealed the real reason.
“Farmer Bert was really sweet, and it was sad to see him being treated like a prop. These two male producers had come from filming FBoy Island and obviously wanted conflict,” says an insider.
“He actually felt very uncomfortable with his producers and their suggestions on how to handle the remaining women. He no longer felt like he could go on and pretend just for the show.”
According to another insider, with Married At First Sight being the highest-rated show on Aussie television, Seven wanted a piece of that pie.
However, it has come at the cost of this year’s participants.
“They were obviously keen to make the show more exciting by adding conflict, and quite a lot of us felt uncomfortable – we were under a lot of pressure to be something we weren’t. It wasn’t the show we had signed up for,” a Farmer cast member tells Woman’s Day.
Bert admits he found the experience “incredibly tough”.
And the Farmer insider says the 30-year-old “had the hardest time”.
“He was often brought to tears due to the pressure of filming,” says the source.
“He had two male producers who continuously stirred things up. He doesn’t like conflict, and these producers went out of their way to make his girls savagely competitive… he couldn’t take it any more.
“He no longer had feelings for any of the girls, and by the time he pulled the pin, they didn’t care much to stick around either. They all felt relieved to be sent home.”
According to the on-set spy, at group events Bert’s girls “just looked exhausted”.
“I felt really sorry for them,” says the insider.
IT’S A WALKOUT!
After such a negative experience, the insider says Bert negotiated his early departure, “and that took real courage,” says the source.
“He didn’t want to sacrifice his reputation, and while the production team offered him the opportunity to pick one of the ladies and leave early like Farmer Dean, he turned them down.”
Sources say while the rest of the farmers stayed until the end, they got fed up with the catfighting between the girls too, with 33-year-old Farmer Todd particularly dismayed at how nasty things got in his camp, especially between Daisy, 28, Grace, 25, and Jacinta, 34.
But the TV insider insists a lot of the feuds were fuelled by producers, too.
“Whenever we would be getting ready to shoot a group dinner, the producers would take us aside and make us return to the table and say things that would obviously upset someone or make our farmer feel uncomfortable, and that’s why a number of times you see the men drive away,” one of the girls reveals.
“The producers just turned what could have been a fun, beautiful night into a nightmare for everyone! It was all for a ratings grab and really unfair.”
The experience hasn’t been kind to cattle and sheep farmer Joe, 33, either, with the source revealing he’s under pressure to be the poster child for the show, given the other farmers struggled this season.
“A number of the girls made comments that he would do well on Home And Away,” says the insider. “If he gets asked to do more work in the media – he is certainly open to it. It is almost expected.”
Despite the pressure, our source says Joe “didn’t mind being pliable and open to the producer’s requests”.
“He had a real stage presence and an X-factor about him. At times, it felt like this was his audition or that he was filming a movie, not a reality show.”
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