Farmer Wants A Wife contestants claim MAFS is ‘trash’ television for Instagram wannabes
Ex-Farmer Wants A Wife contestants have taken a bull-whip to Married At First Sight. While revealing why country love is the real deal, the same cannot be said for those they say are simply seeking Instagram-based fame.
Entertainment
Don't miss out on the headlines from Entertainment. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Former Farmer Wants A Wife contestants have slammed rival dating show Married At First Sight as trash TV for wannabe Instagram stars.
Nathan McClymont, a farmer who found his wife Amanda on the show 10 years ago, said: “When we did it, it was genuine, there wasn’t any social media. It wasn’t about getting publicity, it was about meeting somebody and hopefully it all worked.
“Back then, there was no … platform to advance yourself like on the trash show MAFS,” McClymont added. “The whole format with farmers, they’re genuine people looking for love
They’re not into the social media game or out for popularity.”
The 10th season of Farmer Wants A Wife premieres on Channel 7 on Sunday.
The show has resulted on nine marriages and 20 babies in Australia, making it the most successful reality dating show on television.
Nathan and Amanda married in 2011, and have three children, Mason, 8, Benjamin, 5, and Oscar, 4 months.
Amanda was a contract administrator living in Perth when she found love with Nathan in remote WA.
She said the show is successful with relationships because the suitors are real. “With farmers, their life is the farm and the land,” Amanda said. “They’re hard workers. Farmers aren’t really looking for a media career.”
Scott and Claire Warby found love on the show in 2009. She left her tourism marketing job in Brisbane to marry Scott in 2011. They have two children, Elsie, 7, and Fraser, 4, and live in Mungindi, QLD.
Scott said the show’s success for lasting love comes down to authenticity.
“You go on it for the right reasons, rather than to have an Instagram career, like most reality shows now,” he said.
Clare added: “People on the show are not chasing fame and fortune; they’re looking for love.”
But she said it was difficult adjusting to life in a small town.
“We live in a great community,” she said. “But sometimes I feel we are a little disadvantaged and don’t have access to things people in the city and bigger regional areas take for granted.”
Asked for advice for those taking part in the new season of the show, Clare said: “You’ve got to keep things in perspective. It’s very romanticised on the show, but there’s the realities of life afterwards.”
Scott added: “Don’t play all your cards upfront. If you lay it all out there, you get betrayed. I’m a bit reserved, and the producers got a bit annoyed because they couldn’t get enough out of me.”
Nathan admits he’ll be watching the new season premiere for a different reason.
“I’ll watch the first 30 seconds to see myself (in the opening credits) and then I’ll give it a miss.”