After a long, long wait, Farmer Wants A Wife is finally back for another season!
I have been covering this show for the better part of a decade and am well-versed in its lore and parlance. This popular reality show, responsible for 11 marriages and 27 children, usually premieres in April, but for whatever reason, we all had to wait until June this year; let’s hope the 2026 season of FWAW was worth the wait!
In case you missed it, read on for a full recap of the premiere episode! But beware, there are SPOILERS from this point on!
Episode 1
The 2026 season kicked off with us meeting all the farmers: Zac, Jason, Alex, Jarrad, Dylan,
I felt pretty confident after the introductions that Farmer Alex would be the 2026 fan-favourite. I really applaud his vulnerability, and when he said, “I’m bloody lonely, I’d love to be sharing this with someone”, while visibly emotional, my heart melted immediately.
Natalie Gruzlewski then formally introduced the ladies. I have to say – and no disrespect to Samantha Armytage – but it’s so lovely to see Natalie hosting Farmer Wants A Wife full-time again. When she was barely in the 2023 and 2024 seasons, the show just wasn’t the same without her.
This year, 39 women are looking for love with a farmer. Admittedly, I found it strange that there are so many youngins’ this year. I actually had to pause the episode at this point and crunch the numbers: out of the 39 women, only 14 are older than 30.
And 14 of the women are younger than 25… The cynic in me questions the true motives of the younger ladies: are they looking for love or fame? But I guess if you were looking for reality fame, you’d apply for Married at First Sight, not Farmer Wants A Wife. I digress.
Once the ladies were introduced, Natalie brought in the Farmers. And I immediately pivoted and realised Farmer Dylan will be the 2026 fan-favourite.
“Being a cowboy isn’t just about riding a horse. Being a cowboy is about respect and honesty and loyalty, and putting your family, friends, partner and animals first,” he told Natalie and, for lack of a better word ‘contestants’.
Isn’t that such a lovely thing to hear a young man say? If I had been in that room when he made that comment, I would’ve swooned (and I’m happily engaged).
Then, as always in the first episode of any Farmer Wants A Wife season, the speed dates between the Farmers and the ladies began. Of course, Natalie warned that each farmer can only take five women back to their respective farms and must send the rest home at the end of the speed dates.
Bene (one of the contenders for Farmer Jason) certainly was a character; her energy was infectious to watch, and her not-so-wisecrack, “Do you have pink cows that produce strawberry milk?” did begrudgingly make me chuckle. I really hoped at this stage of the episode that Jason would choose her to come back to the farm because I selfishly want to see more of her this season.
Just before the first commercial break, we were given a teaser for what’s to come this season, and it looks like there will be drama with a capital D. We got a snippet of one girl dramatically taking her mic pack off and leaving in tears. We also got a clip of one of the ladies saying, rather snarkily, “It’s giving jealous.”
I really hope there’s not too much drama this year; if I wanted screaming, crying and backstabbing, I’d watch the aforementioned MAFS.
In fact, I personally hated last season because of all the theatrics with Farmer Thomas, Clarette and Claire. The whole texting scandal was frustrating to watch, and Clarette yelling at Thomas and him dramatically driving away from his OWN farm was so un-FWAW.
Hopefully, the execs at Channel 7 do know that Farmer Wants A Wife has been such a successful show thus far because it’s wholesome and the drama will be dialled right back (and if they don’t know but have stumbled upon this recap: please dial back the drama!)
Farmer Dylan was the first to start his speed dates with Ally, who had a rather odd “icebreaker” – she fed Farmer Dylan some chocolate and made him guess the flavour.
Farmer Alex then began meeting his ladies, and well done to the editors as they immediately cut from Alex saying his perfect woman would have “pale skin and long dark hair” to Suzannah walking up to him (she has pale skin and long dark hair).
Sparks quickly flew between them; hell, Suzannah even impressed me when she fearlessly pulled a spider from Alex’s hair. I’m calling it now, I think Suzannah will go very far this season.
We then saw Dylan meeting Kiara, and have I missed something? She fed him, too, but rather than chocolate, she spooned tiramisu into his mouth during their speed date. Is it trendy to feed men on first dates now? I’m obviously so out of the loop.
Jason and Beth spent some quality time together, and some sparks definitely flew between them. Especially when they bonded over both being single parents.
Then what I think will be the fairytale story of the season unfolded. Renae walked up to Dylan and instantly reminded me of Cinderella. She seemed incredibly kind, and she looked stunning in a cornflower blue dress.
And I think Dylan was enamoured; he admitted that her application to the show caught his eye, and he was looking most forward to meeting her (poor Ally, Kiara, Lily, Tennille, Scarlett, Rhianna and Jamie).
He also admitted to Renae, “You knock me off balance,” with a huge grin on his face. It might be early days, but I bet that Dylan will end up proposing to Renae this season. Their speed date was like a mini rom-com.
Alex (who is the first mushroom farmer to ever appear on FWAW) met Rachel next, and a little bit of flirty banter transpired. But then she dropped the bombshell: “I hate mushrooms”.
Again, kudos to the editors. I actually laughed out loud at how the reveal was built up with dramatic music and tight close-ups, as if Rachel was going to say something really serious. I personally don’t think her dislike of mushrooms is a deal-breaker, and I don’t think it was for Farmer Alex either. He was all smiles during their speed date.
Jason then met Poppy, a self-proclaimed “city girl”. Which made me wonder if many of the ladies will drop out this year. In case you missed it or just need a refresher, last season, there were lots of city girls who left of their own accord midway through after realising that you can’t really romanticise life on a farm; it’s hard work and very, very far from shops, restaurants, bars, nail salons… all the creature hustle and bustle comforts that us city girls love.
About an hour into the episode, Dylan met Scarlett. And he was quick to tell producers he was “smitten” after their speed date. Damn, maybe he and Cinderella Renae won’t have a fairytale ending after all… Watch this space.
The last speed date of episode one was between Alex and Eddy, and I really liked her moxie. She set up an impromptu golf course and said that if she wins, Alex has to pick her for the first 24-hour date, and if he wins, she’ll say yes when he inevitably asks her to go on the first 24-hour date.
It looked like Alex liked Eddy’s moxie as well; he told producers he was quite “smitten” with her.
In the blink of an eye, the first eliminations began. Jason ultimately picked Beth, Logan, Jessica, Jessie and Poppy to come back to his farm.
Sadly, poor Bene fainted after she and Britt were eliminated. And I grew very concerned that there are going to be way too many dramatic elements this coming season; the music swelled, and we got more than five minutes of footage showing medics treating Bene. Is this Home and
Away? An old re-run of All Saints?! No. Please just give us nice and wholesome Farmer Wants A Wife!
I obviously don’t begrudge Bene fainting; she couldn’t have helped it, but surely the elimination scene could’ve been re-recorded, or the faint could’ve been cut out altogether?
As for Farmer Alex, he chose Eddy, Delia, Suzannah, Gabbie and Rachel, sending Alicia, Ebony and Samara home.
And the episode ended with Dylan making his choice.
“I care deeply about making this decision right, because they were all special,” he nervously told Natalie. I really hope Dylan finds genuine love this season, as he’s an obvious sweetheart.
Ultimately, the 24-year-old sheep farmer picked Renae, Ally, Lily, Tennille and Scarlette. Meaning Kiara, Rhianna and Jamie were eliminated.
And that was episode one of Farmer Wants A Wife 2026! Stay tuned for more recaps and new episodes that air on Monday, Tuesday and Sunday nights on Channel 7 and 7now.
