Farmer Wants a Wife is back missing one host, one farmer, and a Wollongong girl (2025)

Here we go again with Australia's favourite agriculture-related dating show, Farmer Wants a Wife, also known as FWAW, which is pronounced to rhyme with wow, not raw.

Say it with me: FWAW!

As the series begins, let's cast our eyes over the rustic specimens who will inspire instant and utter devotion from every single one of the ladies.

We meet the contestants as they hoof it in their heels up a long driveway, while snippets are edited in to give us a glimpse of the dramas - and the pashing - that lie ahead.

With Farmer Wants a Wife in its 15^th season, you might think they'd be scraping the bottom of the barrel for eligible farmers by now. But no, some of this season's bush bachelors seem like they could be decent catches, we think ... until they start trying to string a sentence together.

There's only four farmers this year, after scenes featuring one bull riding bloke were apparently deleted from the show. Channel 7 would not say why, but it was rumoured he's hooked up with multiple women during filming. We thought that was the design of the show.

Many of the deleted scenes had already been filmed, so there's a whole group of ladies scratched as well. They went through the process for nothing. What becomes of them now? Are they polishing their social media profile for a tilt at next season's farmer? Or just heading to the nearest B&S ball?

Farmer Thomas is a wheat, barley and lentil farmer, and looks about as earnest as you'd imagine a South Australian lentil farmer to be.

Looks? On a good day, in the right light, he might draw a Liev Schrieber comparison, and while that Hollywood star lasted 11 years with Naomi Watts, Thomas will be hoping true love is forever.

The comparisons don't end there: Schrieber and Watts met at the Met Gala in New York City and if you think that's glamorous, try this set: barrels as bar tables, candles hurricane lamps for decoration - you won't see that kind of trend-leading design at your fancy Met Gala.

The easy path for Channel 7 would have been to pair the lentil farmer with a bunch of vegetarians, or hippies over the moon at seeing where all the lentils really come from, their non-violence put to the test as they fight and claw for the farmer's hand.

But FWAW is all about the unexpected - and not many of those types applied.

Producers have gone the opposite route, as we can see from a quick scan of Thomas's suitors. There's an explosive specialist, a construction "co-ordinator", a FIFO mine site worker and a "senior event manager", all tough, hard characters for sure. Not to mention some nuclear medicine and a few teachers thrown in.

Is Thomas up to the task? He'd better not mess around with this formidable lot.

We watch as the poor fellow's face contorts in utter panic as he's forced to hold a conversation with a woman. Not many of them around his hometown, he says. One, a Pom called Clairette, even pulls out a "sonnet" she wrote which really tested him.

Thomas says he's after "someone who has their own passions; it's important that they don't sacrifice their own interests for me". That's cute, but in a few weeks he will demand they do exactly that, or else be evicted for not being dedicated enough.

So as two farmers, Thomas and Corey, meet their wives-to-be, we're down a bull rider, his selection of ladies, and a host.

That's because former FWAW "host" Samantha Armytage has left for Channel Nine and a project close to her heart: the Golden Bachelor, a seniors dating show.

Armytage won't be on the farm this year, and while not being there didn't stop her pretending she was the host in previous seasons, Channel 7 has handed the reins to Natalie Gruzlewski in a move we can call an instant upgrade.

Gruzlewski brings a warmth and comfort in the rural setting that eluded Armytage, whose delivery vibe was a bit "hard news" for a rural romp. Plus, Sam appeared to have prepped for a country cosplay convention with a property baron theme.

Also missing from the cast is a single woman from the Illawarra region, but after the 2023 series won by Olivia - she and hubby Matt have since welcomed a baby boy - it's time to give other regions a chance.

For a more detailed look at the reasoning for this, read this.

So it's back to the barrel room for judgement day. After a few "speed dates" Thomas and Corey pick which women they bring back "to the farm" and which to send back to the packing shed.

Too many were ditched to go through them all now. Suffice to say that being good-looking and making a cake are not enough to get you through.

Contestants are stunned. Who are these guys? Stay tuned to find out. It's bound to be a barrel of laughs.