The blokes are left reeling when three ladies unexpectedly walk out of Farmer Wants A Wife this week, with bachelor Andrew Coleman particularly surprised.
The 41-year-old crop and sheep farmer tries to stay out of the drama at the country ball, where nurse Lucie Gilmour wants some private time with him, but restaurateur Maddison Walker jumps in first, leaving Lucie distraught and causing truck driver Claire Saunders to exchange harsh words with Maddison.
“I’m a harmonious person and I’d like everything else to remain harmonious as well,” says Andrew. He’s from the small town of Narromine, five hours north-east of Sydney. “But I guess when you throw five ladies together with one farmer, things are probably going to brew away. There will be conflict.”
Andrew then goes on a date with creative consultant Jessie Noble. Jessie’s the one woman who stayed out of the drama. She starts by leading him in a meditation session.
But while the two of them are relaxing and getting to know each other better, one of the ladies on Andrew’s farm is writing a goodbye letter, which is waiting for him when he gets home.
“It did come as a surprise,” he admits. “But I think she had made up her mind. She wanted to remove herself from the environment we were all in.”
After the farewell dinners, there are no more than three girls left on each farm. Each has to write down an idea for a date. Then, the farmer has to choose one of the trysts without knowing whose it is. There’s tension on several of the farms. Andrew’s date starts out well, but things turn very awkward when the woman he’s with reveals her plans for the future. It leaves him wondering what she’s doing on the show.
Andrew explains, “When she did mention that, I was like, ‘Yeah, that wasn’t corresponded to me any earlier than that.’ I was quite surprised, given that I’d had a few chats with her here and there. It felt as though perhaps someone had left the farm who may have been more interested in being on the farm full-time.”
Meanwhile, on Brad Jones’ cattle farm in Cootamundra, New South Wales, one of the girls is upset when her idea for a date isn’t chosen. She believes that Brad, 33, has deliberately chosen not to spend time with her. She questions whether she wants to compete with others for him.
And on Matt Young’s farm in Bookham, near Canberra, the date gets romantic. Afterwards, one of the other ladies can’t hide her jealousy and admits she’s feeling “pretty down, pretty hurt”.
Who will walk away and leave their farmer disappointed?
More bombshells!
As if things aren’t complicated enough, 10 new ladies turn up this week looking for love. How will the farmers’ original picks feel about the newcomers?
The new women have been selected by Farmer Wants A Wife co-host Natalie Gruzlewski. She calls Andrew, Brad, Matt, David McMahon and Brenton Kuch together to introduce each of them to two more potential wives. They need to choose one to take back to their farm.
After the choices are made, there’s a one-on-one date. Then, the farmers and their new ladies catch up with all the other women at a country fair. We smell drama!
It’s also rumoured one of the rural bachelors has picked his wife earlier than expected and sent the rest of his hopefuls home.
“The farmer in question feels bad about letting down the other women. But, he has already made his decision,” says a source. “He feels like he’s really found ‘The One’ and there’s no point wasting the others’ time by stringing them along more than is necessary.”
According to the insider, the other ladies take it surprisingly well, but will the farmer’s chosen one feel the same way about him, especially after he drops the L word?!
It’s a huge gamble to take so early in the show and one that hasn’t been made since season two in 2008, when farmer Rob Hodges picked out city girl Jo Fincham while the other rural suitors were still on their farm stays. But it certainly paid off for Rob and Jo, who are now happily married with three kids.
Farmer Wants A Wife screens Sundays & Mondays on TVNZ 2 and streams on TVNZ+.
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