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Sam Armytage: Farmer diversity “is a fair enough question”

If Farmer wants a Wife is one of TV's most authentic shows, is it also one of the least diverse?

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Every year when it comes to writing about Farmer Wants a Wife, it’s impressed upon me how authentic the show tries to be compared to other dating shows.

The participants aren’t here for instagram careers, I’m assured. And the strike rate, particularly across the combined Nine / Seven seasons, has been good at forging relationships and even spawning babies.

But if the show is one of TV’s most authentic (which is valid to a point), is it also one of television’s least diverse?

On a network that once prided itself as being the ‘Roast Chook’ network, it’s dominated by straight white farmers and straight white women, suggesting most of us gravitate towards like-for-like in the dating world.

Seven insists it is open to diverse casting but that not enough people come forward. The agricultural women has about a third of female employees and about 13% who are CALD (cultural and linguistically diverse) -and just 1.8% who identify as indigenous according to a 2021 census. Seven is also a signatory to the Screen Diversity & Inclusion Network whose Charter seeks to improve representation both in front of and behind the camera.

Yet TV producers have previously noted some cultural groups tend to favour cooking and talent shows over, say, renovation and dating.

This year, instead of asking host Sam Armytage “Where are the gay farmers / female farmers / multicultural men & women?” I asked whether it was a fair question to raise.

“That is the buzzword at the moment,” she agreed. “It’s a fair enough question and I say the same thing every year and I know every year the producers do scout around to try and find diversity. We’re always looking for a gay farmer. But those people have got to be willing to go on television and they just are not at this point. But we would of course be open to it.

“I mean the success of the show last year was up 16%. It’s pretty popular still. I know we go through this talk about diversity every year. But people still tune in. There’s still a great love for our farmers.”

Nine had a female farmer as far back as 2009, then again in 2010, 2011 and 2016.

Seven has had one female farmer in 2022 who, alas, failed to find a connection with her single men.

“It is harder to do it in reverse. It is harder to pair a female farmer with suitors. There is no female farmer this year…..  I suppose if you found the right person, and some decent quality men to introduce her to then I’m sure it would happen again,” she continued.

Farmer is unique in its casting by putting out profiles of potential farmers for women to respond to, before the farmers then choose who they would like to attend. It helps the show find a better strike rate. If there is a ‘like for like’ selection afoot it is not uncommon in online dating, but could producers also be more active in starting with more diverse farmers? Muster Dogs, for instance, had three female farmers this year.

Yet television is known for being risk averse. The current ratings for the show would suggest change will come slowly to the show. Now in its fifth season on Seven, with casting already open for a sixth, it is a big hit with Seven’s female-skewing audience and central to its Q2 schedule.

“During my time at Sunrise, I was always a big believer that women do control the remote,” Armytage recalls.

“Women won’t usually tolerate something they don’t want to watch. Often the men in the household will just go along with it. Although I do find in our household, come winter time we watch quite a lot of football, that I’m not always that keen on.

“But I was blown away by how popular it was in the city markets. City people really love it, which shows me that they genuinely want our farmers to be happy and to find love. There’s still a great love of the Australian bush and a great love of our farming community.”

Farmer Wants a Wife screens Sunday – Tuesday on Seven.

6 Responses

    1. Diversity isn’t a ‘brush’ Robert, it’s a fact. And when you are in the business of attracting demographics, it’s just good business…
      That being said, the diversity conversation surrounding TV would be wise to move away from ‘every show must represent every person’ and more toward a diverse range of stories and shows that represent all manner of Australians.
      Problem with some commercial Networks is they do neither the previous nor the latter

  3. Farmer wants a Wife was the top rating entertainment show on Sunday night. Let’s hope the producers keep giving the viewing public what they want – if they don’t, viewers will switch off.
    Muster Dogs was on the ABC where they must tick diversity boxes to get a show on air – the national broadcaster has no commercial imperative to get viewers’ eyeballs.

  4. ‘Diversity’ is a buzzword for Armytage haha.
    Honestly, she’s not wrong that they don’t need it as 7’s audience don’t want diversity. They’re still of the old roast chook mindset, so let them swim in their white blonde lane.

  5. The question of demographics has come up before. It’s not like some city suburbs where more than half the population may have been born overseas. There are many regional and rural towns where more than 90% are born in Australia. Sometimes the only person in town from overseas is the pharmacist or doctor.

    Country demographics are different to city demographics. How do you balance that? Maybe it just comes down to the particular casting locations, such as, outer suburban acreage farm areas being slightly more diverse than distant rural areas.

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