Potential plans for a same-sex pairing on Australian reality show Farmer Wants a Wife were reportedly shelved due to a “lack of interest” from the queer community, according to an insider.
The long-running show recently revealed its very straight, very cis lineup of white men ranging from ages 21-35 for its 2025 season. Some fans questioned why there were so many younger farmers, and one comment echoed sentiments that have been around for years: “Are any farmers looking for a husband maybe?”
However, an insider close to the reality show told Yahoo Lifestyle that plans for a gay or lesbian farmer were “scrapped due to a lack of interest from the queer community during the application process.”
“There were some pretty strong discussions that Farmer Wants a Wife was going to have a diversity angle for the next season,” said the insider, “but those plans have been dropped due to a lack of suit able applicants from both same-sex attracted farmers and potential love interests.”
“We know that there are strong communities in regional areas, and we would love to have them take part in the long-running show. It’s not for lack of trying… While there were a handful of options, in the end, the farmers picked were more suitable based on their personalities this time around. We wouldn’t want it to feel like stunt casting,” they concluded.
Networks open to more queer representation
An active reality TV producer also added that while networks are open to the idea, queer people don’t yet see these shows as spaces they feel comfortable applying to.
They said: “There is an unusual imbalance of queer people applying for dating shows and while there is a high number of LGBTQ+ people applying for shows like Big Brother, The Voice and Masterchef Australia, producers are yet to bridge the gap when it comes to the idea of queer people wanting to be in romantic situations on television.”
Despite there being a number of LGBTQI+ reality shows that were focused on being queer from their inception, the inclusion of queer people in traditionally heterosexual dating shows has been lacking.
Though MAFS Australia is looking at trans and non-binary participants, the show’s first same-sex couple in 10 years faced a challenge this year when one of the grooms abruptly left, leaving the producers to find a replacement.