Farmer Wants A Wife is truly at the pointy end for 2023, with the remaining ladies hoping to be the pick of the bunch and win their farmer’s heart.
As the first ever set of twins on Farmer Wants A Wife, Chelsea and Rachel have been grateful for each other’s support however, they are both very determined to forge their own paths on their quest for love.
Woman’s Day sat down with Chelsea and Rachel to get all the insight about their time on the farm, their hopes for the future, and awkward dating mishaps!
Woman’s Day: What inspired you both to join the show?
Chelsea: I was single for about a year so I thought that it would be time to put myself out there again. I just applied to the show and I saw Matt so that drew me into applying, and just stepping out of my comfort zone and being in a different environment is just what I was looking for.
Rachel: For me, I think that I was at a point in my life where I was ready to meet that person, and it just wasn’t happening in my everyday life. While I was at uni, that was kind of consuming my whole life and I didn’t really think about dating, and now that uni is over, I think that I was ready to take that next step in finding someone and getting out of my comfort zone and moving away from home was something I always looked in to. I think Chelsea and I have always been really adventurous and we both like to get out there and try new things and I think we were both ready to spread our wings and try to find love.
Were you both intending on joining the show or did one of you have to convince the other to come along?
Chelsea: I applied for the show first and I didn’t think a lot of it so I didn’t even tell Rachel that I had applied until I received an email back saying that they wanted to do a phone interview, and that’s when I came home and told Rachel and then she applied as well.
Rachel: Chelsea didn’t tell me who she applied for and because I obviously wanted to have a look at all of [the farmers] myself, and I ended up choosing Brenton. Chelsea then told me that she had chosen Matt so I thought why not just give it a go? We’ve chosen different people but if we were both to chose the same one, I definitely wouldn’t have applied and would’ve let Chelsea go for it but considering we chose different people from the get-go, we thought why not?
How did you both go about choosing your farmer? Do you both have similar tastes or did you instantly gravitate more towards one than the other?
Chelsea: When I was applying first, I chose Matt because he was a very similar age to me and then when I told Rachel that I had applied, I didn’t tell her who I picked. We both agreed to let Rachel pick someone and if she chose Matt as well, she wouldn’t go for it and it would just be me.
Rachel: Chelsea and I have very different types anyway. Based on Brenton’s video, I gravitated more towards him so I chose him. Luckily we’ve never liked the same person!
How did the rest of your family and friends react when you told them you were both going to be on the show?
Rachel: Mum and Dad were super supportive. Obviously, they are really protective over us because we also have little sisters, and they’ve been really happy for us as well. All of our friends were really supportive. I think we have a really strong supportive circle around us and I think it made it a lot easier going through this whole thing having that support and having Chelsea and I doing it together as well and knowing what each other were going through.
It sounds like the two of you are very close. When you started going to the farms, was it hard to be so far apart from each other?
Chelsea: We actually didn’t find it that difficult. I think we were at a point of our lives where we were ready to grow as individuals and try something new separately, and we ended up really enjoying it. It wasn’t as hard as we thought it was going to be. Whether we live together or live apart, we will always be a part of each other’s lives. We don’t have to live next door to each other, we could live across the world and I think we’d be just as close.
When you first started getting into farm life, what is one thing you didn’t expect you would enjoy?
Rachel: I really enjoyed the openness and the country-style living. I think that Chelsea and I both were originally looking at moving out of the city anyway before going on the show. Either north or south in Western Australia, so it’s something that we’ve been looking into for a while. We do enjoy just being away from that busy city environment, so that’s what I enjoyed most. The lifestyle is just amazing down there, so I feel like anyone would enjoy it.
Chelsea: For me, I really enjoyed being away from home as well and I really enjoyed being on the farm and having that big open space where you can’t even see the neighbours next door. Moving forward, I think it’s definitely where I can see my future.
Was it important to you that both of the farmers you were dating got along with one another?
Rachel: I feel if you were to date one of us, I feel like it would be a bit hard if your partner or the other one’s partner didn’t get along. I feel like Matt and Brenton being from the same environment made it a little bit easier because we knew that they would kind of get along. On the show, we definitely focused on ourselves and our relationships with both the farmers and I think that whatever else happens will grow just from that.
Rachel, what do you like best about Farmer Brenton?
Rachel: I like his personality and his smile and his laugh in his video is what drew me from the start. I think Brenton and I share similar qualities and I think we’re both looking for the same thing in a partner which attracts me more to him. I think the thing that I like most about Brenton is that he’s so passionate about what he does and he’s so driven with all this work, and you’ll definitely see that throughout the season.
Chelsea, what do you like best about Farmer Matt?
Chelsea: I think from the get-go he was such a genuine and down-to-earth guy. We share a lot of the same values and morals that we both look for in a relationship which I really like. What connected us from the start is that we shared a lot of those values and morals. I really like how well-spoken Matt is as well. It made things a lot easier.
Throughout your dating life, have you ever done a Parent Trap and switched places?
Rachel: Not in dating! Chelsea had a boyfriend for a while but he could definitely tell the difference between us two. I also made it known every time that it was me and not Chelsea, like if I was to open the door I’d be like ‘Chelsea is in her room’, so definitely nothing like that!
What’s one thing that fans would be surprised to learn about the two of you?
Chelsea: I feel like we’re coming across as if we’re joint at the hip. We definitely both have different personalities and as much as we are super close, I think that during the season you’ll see how different we are because we are away from each other and not bouncing off each other every five minutes like we would if we were together.
Was it important for the two of you to really differentiate yourself from one another?
Rachel:We’ve grown up being known as the twins and having that twin label and I think going into it, we just wanted to be ourselves. This is something that we wanted to do as individuals and for ourselves, and it just so happened to be that we both got through and have been shown as these twins. I think we definitely went into it as individuals wanting to have our own little love story and grow separately, but also enjoy it together.