Cara’s journey on Farmer Wants A Wife might not have ended in lasting love, but she’s not losing sleep over it.
Following her departure from Jarrad’s farm on Sunday, the paralegal has exclusively broken her silence to New Idea about the “mixed messages” that led to her exit.
While Cara, 33, admits she felt her elimination was a “50-50” guess, she confesses she was given hope by Jarrad’s behaviour just 24 hours before the final decision.
“He did actually say to me, I think it was the day before […], he said to me, ‘You deserve your own date’,” she tells us.
“So I was a little bit confused when I did get dumped. I knew it was 50-50, but there were parts of me that were like, ‘Oh, am I staying around? What does that mean?'”
Her verdict? “Yeah, a very confusing man, that one.”
Cara’s not the only one scratching her head. Viewers have taken to social media to call out Jarrad’s changing intentions, specifically switching from wanting an “independent” woman to someone more “nurturing”.
That, combined with his kissing both Carly and Yvonne on the farm, has led to some viewers branding him as a “red flag”, and Cara has responded to the backlash.
While the kissing saga didn’t bother Cara, because their connection was only “surface level” at the time, she did feel like Jarrad was giving “mixed messages” to all the women.
“Our girls have had quite a bit of discussion about the comments online,” she says.
“I guess it was nice to have my feelings validated ’cause there was a point on the show where I felt like I wasn’t doing enough.
“And watching it, you can kind of see that Jarrad – I thought Jarrad wasn’t giving us girls enough, like he didn’t know what he wanted.
“I don’t know whether he just struggled with the environment or if he genuinely doesn’t know what he wants out of a woman.
“He thought he wanted something spicy, and the next thing, he’s [after] a nurturing girl.”
So what does she think he’s looking for? “I think he likes the idea of champagne, but he’s more of a warm cup of tea kind of guy.”
Needless to say, Cara is just as confused as we are about who Jarrad’s final choice will be out of Yvonne, Carly and Brodie.
“You’ve got Carly and Brodie, super sweet. Yvonne’s a little bit more out there, I suppose he’s a little bit more like myself,” she explains.
“Yvonne sent me into a spiral when she came back on third date because she’s having a whole different man to what Carly was telling us.
“So I couldn’t pick it. I didn’t know whether he was leaning towards Yvonne or if he was leaning towards Carly.
“I’ll have to wait and see.”
Though her FWAW journey didn’t end in love, Cara has ultimately made peace with her exit, noting that Jarrad may not have been the perfect match for her after all.
“I didn’t want to be dumped on national TV, a bit of an ego thing,” she admits.
“That bit was a bit daunting, just sitting at the table, waiting for my name to be called out.
“But at the same time, I kind of felt it wasn’t there with Jarrad. You know, he lacked that playful banter that I really need.
“I sort of knew it wasn’t going to work.
“I was genuinely there for the right reasons. But yeah, I was okay to go home.”
Her only regret? Not kissing Jarrad at the country ball to try and secure the 24-hour date.
“That may have made a difference in my journey,” she theorises. “But other than that, no [regrets], I had a good time.”
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