Well-known and popular local farmer Matthew Young featured in Monday night’s Farmer Wants a Wife program on Channel 7 and will continue to appear as one of the Farmers throughout the series. When Farmer Wants a Wife (FWAW) originally aired in Britain, recent contestant Matthew Young did not think he would eventually end up on the show with great 2023 success. The 23-year-old man who grew up in Harden before moving to the family farm at Bookham has quickly stolen the hearts of many around Australia and is soon to steal even more hearts when his face is on the screen, broadcast around the country.

Bookham Farmer Matt Young seeking true love on the new season Channel 7 Farmer Wants A Wife

You can learn plenty from the FWAW profile on Mr Young such as his proficiency in trivia, he enjoys playing footy with the boys, and his favourite movie is Baby Driver. We wanted to learn more about the reality show and one of its most handsome contestants. The Times dropped him a line and the wife-seeking farmer was more than happy to help.

“We used to live in Harden, I lived there from five until thirteen or so,” he said.

“It was a special story for Mum and Dad since it was their first house they ever owned.”

“I did my first year at Murrumburrah High School then we moved to the farm here in Bookham.

“From there I went out to Yanco and finished off year 12 there, then I moved on to study at Charles Stuart University in Wagga after a year of travelling around.

“I spent a year overseas; I worked on farms in Ireland and I spent a year going around Europe.”

Matthew had only just gotten his Bachelor of Agricultural Sciences degree at CSU last year and decided years of travelling and studying weren’t enough to quench his thirst for adventure, so he turned to Channel 7.

“It’s tied in nicely together in that I was back at the farm and I went ahead on this little crazy journey.

“The biggest shock was having five beautiful women hanging around on the farm trying to get your attention.”

“I’m not entirely sure of the exact process, I got a call one day. The family farm is where I want to be for the rest of my future.

“It’s just a matter of taking those steps, they said they liked my story, and they wanted me to send them an application. I got a female friend to help me write it up and I just kept getting through from there.”

After going through the initial checks and processes, Matthew found himself on Channel 7.

“The filming ran over two months or roughly. It does feel a little bit condensed in the way that normally when you’re dating someone you would maybe see them once a week and then you’d be off and doing something else and then you catch up with them next week.”

He described the hardcore style of dating which FWAW has branded itself on as dating on steroids.

“The experience is well worth it and I think the end outcome was the one I was searching for. That’s what I was missing in my life.

“I found that in university, no one was seriously looking for something as serious as I was. I was just like, I finished uni, now what do I do with myself? This was the right move at the time.

“Like all the other farmers, I did find love. It’s just really exciting. Things are ticking along nicely.

“We did a bit of everything farm-related that we do normally on a day-to-day basis, whether it’s in shearing sheep, or out in the paddocks mustering stock.

“You choose things that you want to do and show the girls and put them through the hoops in little ways to see if they really are fit and ready for the farm life. I enjoyed that aspect of it too because mostly the girls were always ready to jump in and they do want to impress and show off that they go there for the right reasons. They were ready for a bit of hard yakka.

“I absolutely think it was worth it. As weird as it was, it was sometimes odd being mustered in one direction or another.“I never do this normally but the end outcome is what I keep coming back to, it’s the end result I wanted.”

Farmer Wants a Wife starting on Easter Monday with Matt having a fellow farmer nearby in Coota’s Brad Jones also finding love. Check your guides to follow Matt and the other farmer’s stories in our TV Guide in the paper.

Jack Murray