Out of all of Australian television’s reality shows, Farmer Wants A Wife appears to be on the, er, tamer side of drama.
Five wholesome farmers searching for the love of their lives? Park up the lies, cheating and outrageous dinner parties – this looks like a sweet does of television we could do with in our lives.
Well… kind of. Woman’s Day went behind the scenes of the latest season to find out what really goes on. And surprisingly, it’s not all hay bales and roses.
Each episode takes up to 48 hours to shoot, which then becomes just one hour of TV!
Around $2000 is spent on each of the dates, which covers everything from fairy lights to local cheeses.
The show is a huge production – with a different camera crew, set of producers and sound technicians assigned to each of the five farmers.
Many of the locations used in the show are not the farmers’ actual properties, as a lot of their homes are “not as cinematic” as the producers would like.
While they rock their flannelette shirts, jeans and outback hats, all the farmers are still dressed and styled by production. According to our on-set spy, one particularly fashionable farmer likened the experience to “being dressed by my mother”.
Producers have a “point and shoot” approach to filming and don’t actually know which couples are connecting until they watch the footage back in the studio.
The farmers are dressed for the part.
(Channel Seven)Around 120 hours of footage ends up on the cutting room floor – this is due to the farmers’ shyness on camera. “Remember, they’ve been isolated on rural farms for years and talking to women isn’t always easy for them, let alone when a camera is shoved in their face,” says our insider.
The girls always attempt to get some alone time with the farmers, but this is banned by production as they want all their interactions to be filmed.
No sneaking away from the cameras!
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Unlike The Bachelor and Married At First Sight, the budding wives have a lot less alcohol to enjoy during the dates and events!
All farmers continue their fulltime work on their properties while shooting the show, while the women are given just four weeks’ notice they’re on the program so they can tell their employers. With less booze available, date nights are tame affairs compared to MAFS!
For more on Farmer Wants A Wife 2021, check out the stories below
Round up the herds: Here’s when Farmer Wants A Wife will plough its way onto our screens
Saddle up! Meet the ladies heading to the country for Farmer Wants A Wife this year
Nine marriages and 20 (yes, 20!) kids: Here’s what the Farmer Wants a Wife couples are up to now
