Andrew Coleman from season 13 of Farmer Wants a Wife has shed new light on why his relationship with ex-fiance Claire Saunders ended.
Speaking with our sister publication Woman’s Day, the farmer revealed that after his father became seriously ill, he threw himself into work at his Narromine, NSW farm in the months preceding the wedding.
“In the lead-up, I just made sure that I had a lot of sheep work to do. There was obviously an element of sadness around it all, and to take my mind off it I tried to put my focus somewhere else.”
Needing some space from each other, Claire spent some time in Tasmania before returning to the farm where she asked Andrew how he felt about the wedding.
“During the conversation, I expressed some doubts about getting married, and I remember saying I felt like something had changed, but I didn’t know what,” Andrew shared with the publication.
Despite thinking their relationship was still okay, the former reality star says he was blindsided the following day when Claire revealed that she had cancelled the wedding.
In fact, according to Andrew, Claire hadn’t even informed guests prior to taking to social media to share the sad news!
He then added that after clashing over “financial awareness” and “social media use”, it was clear that they “weren’t really compatible for a long-term relationship.”
This candid update comes only a month after Claire spoke with another one of our sister publications, WHO, revealing that she never thought her relationship with a man she was “fully in love with” would end in such a way.
“I never thought of my life away from Andrew and the farm when I was there. It’s the only time in my life I’ve not had a plan B,” she said. “It’s not been easy but breakups are not easy, especially when you really love someone.”
“I cancelled the wedding in July. You can’t make someone marry you,” she added. “He wanted some space so I went to Darwin for the dry season and the wheels really fell off after that. We’re not in contact now at all. It’s been a terrible time.”
Despite this, Andrew has previously said he and his ex are “amicable.”
In July, the Farmers star announced her wedding to Andrew was cancelled via a statement to her Instagram stories.
“Andrew and I have had to cancel our wedding due to reasons out of our control, but we are both okay,” she wrote, adding that she and her dogs had travelled to Darwin to work for the dry season.
“I’m not sure what else to say other than, sometimes life is hard and we all just need a little breathing space.
“There will be no farming content from me for the foreseeable future.”
Farmer Andrew committed to Claire in the second-last week of filming season 13.
They announced their engagement in March 2024, four months after celebrating their first anniversary.
Taking to Instagram to share the news, Claire shared a photo of herself with a gorgeous ring adorning her finger.
“I said YES to the love of my life 💍,” she captioned the post.
“So absolutely grateful that I wake up to this life every day. You are my best friend @farmerandrewau and my safe place, ILYSM Xx”
Prior to this, Claire shared with our sister publication Woman’s Day that she thought Farmer Andrew’s big love confession was going to be a rejection.
“I got to the farm and there was a letter on the bed, and it said, ‘Meet me out the front, we need to talk.’ I thought I was going home, so I didn’t expect that, it was nice,” the mine truck driver said.
Then-41-year-old Andrew, however, had no hesitation. Knowing “pretty early on” that the then-37-year-old would be his final choice.
After the show, Claire moved to live with Andrew on his Narromine farm. At the time, she told our sister publication WHO that the northern move from Tasmania had been smooth sailing.
“I had property in Tasmania and grew up on Flinders Island. The transition from moving from Tassie to New South Wales was natural and really easy for me.”
Andrew added: “We’ve settled in here and now we can get out and about together as a couple which is great.”
Claire and Andrew previously shared their thoughts on marriage and children.
“It would be nice to have twins first up and then see what would happen after that,” Claire told Woman’s Day.
“We’re approaching it with the mindset of, let’s enjoy one another first for a period of time and make memories of our own, and if things keep evolving in a positive manner, then that’ll come,” Andrew said.
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