Contestants give up a lot to appear on Farmer Wants A Wife, including time off work, so how much are they actually paid?
New Idea has uncovered a contestant contract that exposes how financially risky being a part of the Channel Seven show is.
While the program has been a staple on our screens since 2007, with 15 seasons and 19 couples still going strong, unfortunately, not all of the contestants walk away finding love.
The 2026 season launches on June 8, and the newly leaked contract reveals the confronting truth about how costly it is to put your life on hold and put yourself out there.
Scroll on to find out how much the contestants get paid, and the conditions they must meet.
How much are the Farmer Wants a Wife contestants paid?
While rumours are always rife about the salaries of hit reality TV shows, including I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here, Married at First Sight, The Block, and MasterChef, FWAW contestants’ pay has been kept tightly under wraps… until now!
According to a contract exclusively leaked to New Idea, the contestants receive $80 per day for each day they’re filming the show, including travel days.
Given that some contestants have previously claimed that they filmed for between 10 to 12 hours at a time, that hourly rate fluctuates between $8.00 and $6.66. When filming has dragged on for longer, it becomes even less.
The contract also reveals that the ladies receive 60 per cent of it in fortnightly instalments, and in arrears.
They receive the remaining 40 per cent 30 days after the first broadcast of the final episode.
The 2026 season was filmed at the end of 2025, and the show is usually on our screens for two months, so given that the show airs on June 8 this year, the second part of the payment could be withheld until approximately August, if that’s when the reunion airs.
However, the leaked contract explicitly states that the payments can be withheld if someone is in breach of their contract, or if they’re removed from the show.
While this might be confronting to read as a beloved fan of the show, past contestants haven’t held back about how this impacted them.
Ellen Dunger, who was in the running to secure Farmer Todd’s heart on the 2024 season before she was sent home, took to Instagram during the 2025 season to reveal what it was like to secure the payments after the show.
“And even while you’re filming and you’re trying to get the little money that they give you out of them, it’s actually a really difficult task. I think we had to send heaps of ridiculous emails, like the girls on my farm, to actually get paid,” she claimed on Instagram.
The ex-contestant then explained how it didn’t surprise her that so many women voluntarily quit the show each year, citing that they’d probably earn more money in their normal, non-televised life.
Sophie Trethowan (who found love with Farmer Dustin in 2024), also previously told Yahoo! Lifestyle that she pocketed approximately $3,200 for two months of filming.
She added that she was paid $80 to film the reunion months later.
“It’s not a lot of money, but at the end of the day, you don’t go there for that. I never looked at it like that. I was like, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” she said.
She also confirmed that while some expenses, like food, were covered by the production team, she still spent “a lot of money” on out-of-pocket expenses like doing her hair and makeup, and supplying her outfits.
“Some girls quit their jobs, you can’t work for months, and I was still paying off a house loan. I was lucky I had savings, but you have to have that in mind if you’re applying,” she added.
How much are the farmers on Farmer Wants a Wife paid?
2024 star Daisy Lamb, who ended up with Farmer Todd, revealed that the farmers are paid with a 60/40 split like the ladies, but they took home significantly more.
“I think they get paid around $3000 when they first start, and then after the show is [done], they end up with about $6,000 or $7,000,” she said.
