“There were some pretty strong discussions that Farmer Wants a Wife was going to have a diversity angle.”

A Farmer Wants a Wife Australia insider has revealed that plans for a “queer” lead were scrapped when finalising farmers for the 2025 season.

ICYMI: Channel Seven recently unveiled the crop of farmers in the running to appear on the show next year, and there was very little diversity among the eight faces.

Even their ages were reduced to the very small bracket of 21 – 35.

A Farmer Wants a Wife Australia insider has revealed that plans for a “queer” lead have been scrapped. Source: Seven

On social media, fans have been calling for a more inclusive lineup. One user wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter): “Surely it’s time for ‘gay farmer wants a husband’.”

According to one production insider, the network has been keen to enact a more inclusive season of Farmer Wants a Wife.

However, they told Yahoo! Lifestyle it was a no-go for the upcoming instalment.

Insider says a ‘lack of interest’ contributed to queer Farmer Wants a Wife 2025 lead being scrapped

The insider told the outlet that “plans for a gay or lesbian farmer have been scrapped due to a lack of interest from the queer community during the application process”.

The lack of diversity amid the 2025 cast “was not intentional”. Source: Seven

They also assured that the 2025 cast of white, straight men “was not an intentional move from the producers or the casting team currently working on the next series”, which will be hosted again by Samantha Armytage.

“There were some pretty strong discussions that Farmer Wants a Wife was going to have a diversity angle for the next season of the popular dating show, but those plans have been dropped due to a lack of suitable applicants from both same-sex attracted farmers and potential love interests,” the insider explained.

“We know there are strong communities in regional areas, and we would love to have them take part in the long-running show. It is not for lack of trying.”

The source explained that the “audition process is quite extensive” and said the farmers who were chosen “were more suitable based on their personalities.”

“We wouldn’t want it to feel like stunt casting. That is also not going to work just for the sake of making it work.”

TV producer claims there’s an ‘unusual imbalance’ of LGBTQ+ community members applying for shows

A TV producer also weighed in on the state of queer leads in dating shows, telling Yahoo Lifestyle it’s “not because the networks are not open to the idea”.

“It is because queer people don’t see these shows as a space they feel comfortable applying to take part,” they confessed.

“There is an unusual imbalance of queer people applying for dating shows, and while there is a high number of LGBTQ+ people applying for shows like Big Brother, The Voice and Masterchef Australia — producers are yet to bridge the gap when it comes to the idea of queer people wanting to be in romantic situations on television.”

In recent history, Brooke Blurton became the world’s first-ever pansexual lead of The Bachelorette franchise in 2021.

Brooke Blurton was the world’s first pansexual lead on The Bachelorette. Source: Ten

Meanwhile, Married at First Sight 2024 featured same-sex couple Michael Felix and Stephen Stewart.

Before that, bisexual groom Liam Cooper appeared on the show in 2022. His appearance came a year after the show’s first-ever female same-sex couple, Tash Herz and Amanda Micallef.