While new seasons of long-running programs regularly add events or new challenges to spice up the format, Seven’s Farmer Wants A Wife’s biggest success is that it stays true to its roots, according to executive producer, Ewa Dobrowolska.
“Obviously, you need to still throw some surprises into the mix to keep it fresh and fun, but the format doesn’t deviate too much year on year, and that’s a big part of Farmer’s success,” she told Mediaweek.
“Largely we try to stick to the format and try not to trick it up too much.”
Now in its 14th season, Dobrowolska states that she thinks viewers keep coming back to the programme because of its authenticity.
“The focus for the ladies and the farmers is finding love, not followers, and I think that’s the big difference that sets our show apart,” she said.
“The farmers aren’t perfectly polished, sometimes they’re lost for words or they don’t always know the right thing to say, but that’s what resonates with the audience.
“They’re real, they’ve got heart, they’ve got humour and humility which is a great combination to have.”
Premiering at 7 pm on 14 April, this year’s farmers include Farmer Bert, 30, from Wamuran, Queensland; Farmer Joe, 33, from Bombala, NSW; Farmer Dustin, 26, from Condobolin, New South Wales; Farmer Dean, 25, from Kandanga, Queensland and Farmer Tom, 22, from Tabilk, Victoria.
Returning host Samantha Armytage and co-host Natalie Gruzlewski play Cupid once again as they guide the new crop of farmers on their journey to find love, as well as reunite with favourite past farmers.
Similar to the contents of the show, Seven isn’t changing things up when it comes to its target demographic.
“The beauty of Farmer is that it has such a wide-ranging audience,” Dobrowolska said.
“While the show is skewed female, we’ve got young, old, city, metro, country; it has a really wide audience that not many shows can say that they do have, and we want to maintain that audience through authentic television.”
While Dobrowolska couldn’t reveal any of the surprises in store for the new season, she did tease that one farmer on the show is pretty popular.
“Farmer Bert is one of the most sought-after farmers we’ve ever had in the history of the show,” she said.
“Firstly, he’s our first-ever pineapple farmer, but secondly, he’s had the most number of applications for a single farmer out of all the seasons. To put that into context, the amount of women who applied to date Bert was more than the total number of applications that all of last year’s farmers combined got.”
The main sponsors for this season of Farmer Wants A Wife are ISUZU, Kellogg’s, Aldi, Gourmet Garden and Lotto. Farmer Wants A Wife is produced by Eureka Productions for the Seven Network.