EXCLUSIVE: Jo Hodges shares her honest thoughts on how the popular reality show has changed over the years.

Former Farmer Wants A Wife winner Joanna Fincham has shared her thoughts on the show’s evolution. Photo: Channel 7

With an outcome of 11 marriages, seven long-term relationships and 27 children, it’s fair to say that Farmer Wants A Wife is Australia’s most successful reality dating show. The series aired on Channel 9 between 2007 and 2012, had its ninth season in 2016, and was rebooted in 2020 on Channel 7.

Since the show’s revival five years ago, many viewers have complained that the once-wholesome series has turned its focus to causing drama instead of finding love. There have been a handful of scandalous moments in recent years, and this year’s season has been shrouded in controversy after one farmer was completely edited out.

While recent winners Daisy Lamb and Sophie Trethowan have been outspoken about Farmer Wants A Wife‘s dramatic turn, season two star Joanna ‘Jo’ Hodges née Fincham was one of the first contestants to criticise the reboot.

Jo is one of the many success stories to come out of the reality series after finding love with cattle farmer Rob Hodges on the second season in 2008. The former newspaper photographer made the daring move from Melbourne to Mount Gambier to marry her farmer, and the pair now share three children.

Jo spoke with Yahoo Lifestyle in 2021 and shared her honest thoughts on the revamped version of the reality show in comparison to her time on TV.

“Shows really thrive on drama, which is unfortunate, but that’s the way it is,” she said. “I feel that Farmer has evolved a little bit from when we were on it, to the point where now it is a little bit more drama-filled.

“The guys were in it a lot more, and now it’s sort of more focused on the girls. It used to be very much them getting their hands dirty on the farm.”

Joanna and Rob met on the second season of Farmer Wants A Wife in 2008. Photo: Channel 9

Reality TV edits

Reflecting on her own season, Jo shared that she had a really great experience and doesn’t regret anything, but not everything that appeared on TV was as it seemed.

“They sort of create characters for each person through editing, so Rob was the elder statesman, I was the young, over-the-top, loud person,” she detailed. “They paint you in a picture and then they stick with it the whole series, and it can be really hard.”

She also added that despite being one of the show’s ‘winners’, her reality TV edit wasn’t always flattering.

“I remember I said something like, ‘I could definitely see a future with Rob’, and they played that after our first five-minute speed date, but it was said right at the end of filming,” she revealed. “So I just thought, oh my god, I look like a stage six clinger!”

Jo made sure to pass her insider advice onto her friend Farmer Will Dwyer, who appeared on the eleventh season of Farmer Wants A Wife in 2021. She and Rob made a surprise appearance in the show’s finale to support Will, which she says brought back plenty of memories and made the experience over a decade ago feel like “just yesterday”.

Jo and Rob are good friends with season 11 star Farmer Will. Photo: Instagram/@joannafincham

Advice for future contestants

The pilates instructor went on to say that she hopes future contestants have a good support system around them and they know what they’re getting into, as she herself had a tough experience dealing with public opinion during her season.

“All of a sudden, you’re thrust into this thing where a lot of people are talking about you in a way that can be really quite derogatory and upsetting,” she confessed. “I think that was probably the biggest thing for me, and just knowing that there isn’t always a lot of support there from certain parties, I suppose.

“There’s always a chance of getting rejected on the show, and that can be really quite demoralising as well, so you have to know that you are in a position where anything can really happen.”

While Jo is an impressive statistic in successful reality TV love stories, she also makes up another significant number of people who have moved to the country to find love. eharmony has found that 54% of Australians have relocated to be with a partner, with a majority preferring a move to the country over the city.

“There’s something really special about the country, and there’s no way I could live back in a capital city,” Jo admitted. “We’re both quite happy here and now that we’ve had our three kids, we feel very connected to this region as well.

“I would say that if anyone is willing to move, if you have a supportive partner, it can be the absolute making of you. It’s certainly been the making of me.”