Rumour has it that Farmer Wants A Wife producers wanted to include an LGBTQIA+ farmer as part of the upcoming season.
The new farmers looking for love were announced by Seven this week, and how do I put this… they all look like they would find mayonnaise spicy. Yep, the network chose eight white, straight men. For a TV dating show. In 2025!
According to Yahoo! Lifestyle, producers were “open” to more “inclusive” casting, but struggled to find enough interested participants.
“Plans for a gay or lesbian farmer have been scrapped due to a lack of interest from the queer community during the application process,” the insider said.
“[Casting straight white men] was not an intentional move from the producers or the casting team currently working on the next series.”
The source went on to claim there were plenty of discussions about having a “diversity angle” (sounds suss, but anyway), however, there weren’t many “suitable applicants” – both from queer farmers and their potential matches.
…it’s the same picture! (Image: Seven)
Apparently, Seven wanted to make sure they weren’t chucking people onto the show just to fulfil a quota because they didn’t want it to feel like they were “stunt casting”.
“We know that there are strong [LGBTQIA+] communities in regional areas, and we would love to have them take part in the long-running show. It is not for lack of trying,” the insider added.
“The audition process is quite extensive, and while there were a handful of options, in the end, the farmers picked were more suitable based on their personalities this time around.”
A former reality TV producer told PEDESTRIAN.TV they weren’t surprised by this rumour.
“Reality producers tend to focus more on whether the participants are great talent in front of the camera, and anything else comes second to that,” they said.
“For example, on MAFS, it’s more important to have outrageous personalities rather than matching contestants with somebody who actually suits them.”
Well… I guess there’s always Farmer Wants A Wife 2026 for a lil ~sprinkle~ of diversity? Someone please call Big Brother’s Farmer Dave!
PEDESTRIAN.TV has reached out to Seven for comment.
Feature Image: Seven
