Madison MacKenzie explains her dramatic turnaround after quitting Farmer Wants a Wife
She dramatically quit Farmer Wants A Wife before later returning to ask for a second chance with farmer Harry, and now Queensland contestant Madison explains what went on behind the scenes
QLD News
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Queensland’s Madison MacKenzie has explained how her hope for a future with Harry Robertson motivated her to return to Farmer Wants A Wife.
The 24-year-old, who grew up on a farm near Esk west of Brisbane, quit the Channel 7 reality show on Sunday night’s episode after becoming overwhelmed by the dating experience, before later returning and asking Robertson for a second chance.
The other three suitors then lashed out at the farmer for allowing MacKenzie back to the farm after she walked out on him.
“I slept on it and it all hit me at once – you’re in someone else’s house, you feel invasive,” MacKenzie said about her first 24 years alone with Robertson at the farm.
“I’m not a Tinder dater or someone who goes on dates let alone to someone’s house. It was a whole new aspect of dating for me, it was beautiful but overwhelming … I internalised a lot.”
“I made the decision (to leave) pretty quickly. I think it was the next day and I sort of thought, I can either fight or flight and at the time I thought I need to get out and talk to my family.”
MacKenzie said producers tried to convince her to stay, but she was adamant about leaving.
“Watching it back I’m screaming ‘just open up, just say how you’re feeling and tell him’. I want to sit there and shake myself and say ‘just talk’,” she said.
“It’s disappointing and there’s a lot more to it. It’s a shame that it’s not expressed.”
“But I don’t regret it. All I regret is not opening up at the start and being like that, but you can’t change who you are.”
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After leaving the farm, she spoke to her family and best friend over the phone, all of whom encouraged her to give it another shot.
It was her best friend who encouraged MacKenzie to apply for the show, and she had selected Robertson from the other farmers after deciding to listen only to the audio of their interviews and go off the voice that made her smile the most.
After a couple of days hiatus, she told production she wanted to return to the farm.
“It was really hard. I remember getting on the place and my hands were so sweaty. It was one of the toughest decisions to make,” MacKenzie said.
“It was worth it just from the short time knowing Harry he’s such a nice guy. I had come there for him and I’d come so far, and I didn’t want to give up.”
MacKenzie said there was “tension and bitterness” from some of the other women on the farm and she expected to be on the back foot with Robertson.
“I just kept pushing through it. I felt I had to prove myself to him,” she said.
She said the experience had changed her and she was now more capable at talking about her feelings.
“I’m no longer one to cower in a corner,” she said.
Originally published as Madison MacKenzie explains her dramatic turnaround after quitting Farmer Wants a Wife