As what was supposed to be his wedding day in September approached, Farmer Wants A Wife star Andrew Coleman tells Woman’s Day he did what he does best – threw himself into farm life.
“In the lead-up I just made sure that I had a lot of sheep work to do. There was obviously an element of sadness around it all, and to take my mind off it I tried to put my focus somewhere else,” says the 43-year-old. “It was a tough day.”
TOUGH TIMES
The Narromine, NSW sheep farmer says, “It’s been a really tough and stressful time” since he and fiancée Claire Saunders, 37 – who he popped the question to back in March after the pair met on the reality show in 2023 – called off their wedding in July.
“But despite the pain, I feel like we both made the right decision and in moving forward, we can both take some learnings from our time together.”
“Good communication is of the utmost importance,” Andrew says of what he’s learned from the breakup.
He says it was a lack of it that contributed to the couple’s split – especially when Claire blindsided him.
“She had an extended stay in Tasmania and when she arrived back at the farm, she suggested we needed to talk about the wedding – she asked me how I was feeling about it all.
“During that conversation, I expressed some doubts about getting married, and I remember saying I felt like something had changed, but I didn’t know what.”
Andrew says that after that conversation, all seemed fine.
“We had a pretty good afternoon after that – we sorted some sheep out for a sale,” he recalls. “But the next day I was at a field day and Claire texted me saying she’d cancelled the wedding – and she’d already informed her family and friends and that I probably should come home.
“When I got back, Claire was quite upset, as was I. She told me she had work to go to in Darwin and I was quite shocked and confused – when I left that morning, I thought things were OK!” Andrew insists.
THE RIGHT DECISION
And while Claire claimed on social media in September that Andrew “stole” her Toyota Prado, Andrew has a different version of events.
“We agreed that she received some compensation and given the length of the drive that she had to do going to Darwin, she could use the Prado that I’d recently bought, then travel back to the farm [with it] some time in August.
“I checked in with Claire each day while she was travelling to Darwin to say I wanted to work things out, but she said she was going to stay there until the dry season was over, and unfortunately, things continued to deteriorate from there.
“On top of all that, Claire made the cancellation of the wedding public in a social media post on July 8 and I hadn’t even told the guests.”
“They were shocked,” Andrew says of his family. “Ultimately, when everything settled down, everyone thought if it wasn’t going to work long term, the right decision had been made.”
Andrew says the pair “clashed” over “financial awareness” and “social media use”.
“It revealed a few differences there that weren’t really compatible for a long-term relationship,” says Andrew, who isn’t one to over-share on social media.
“Her communication was strange at times.”
Andrew denies Claire’s claims that his father’s battle with illness contributed to their split.
“That didn’t play a role, other than to move the wedding forward because he was unwell,” he tells Woman’s Day.
Despite their split, Andrew says the pair are still in touch.
“They’re amicable exchanges,” says Andrew, who reveals Claire still has her engagement ring. But he doesn’t see them reconciling.
“Claire’s a special woman, but our differences were too great,” he says.
NO REGRETS
However, Andrew insists he has “no regrets” about going on the life-changing show.
“It was a leap of faith and it was one of the best things I’ve done in my life,” he says.
But he hasn’t given up on love.
“Who knows what the future holds,” adds Andrew.
“Just because this one didn’t work out doesn’t mean you give up. I still have hopes and dreams of having a family and settling down.”
And he isn’t ruling out returning to Farmer.
“If I knew the outcome would be that I would meet my ideal partner, I’d probably give it another shot!”