By Ian Beeck | posted on July 24, 2020
FORMER Albany resident Megan Jayne hopes to be the 100th marriage on the worldwide television hit Farmer Wants a Wife (FWAW) as she searches for love and starting a family.
Ms Jayne worked as Tourism Product Development Manager for the South West with Tourism WA and was seated at the Great Southern Development Board.
Previous to that she was living in London, working as the Marketing Manager for the Australian High Commission when she applied for the role with Tourism WA, looking to move home to Australia after five years overseas.
“Albany is such a beautiful place and I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to have lived there,” Ms Jayne said.
“I still miss it from time to time.”
She left Albany to start her own business, moving back to Adelaide to open the first of two sports supplement stores.
In 2015 she said she was struggling with anxiety and depression after working seven days a week in her two businesses, and reached “complete burn-out”.
“I’m naturally a very positive person but after 18 months of not being able to smile, I knew something was seriously wrong,” she said.
“In that moment, I knew I had to make some changes.
“I booked a one-way ticket to Bali, having never been there before.
“I sold my beachside home, my new dream car, made the heartbreaking decision to close my businesses and gave everything else away, and moved to a tropical island to heal for a year.
“Over the past five years I’ve studied as a life and mindset coach, I’m a certified neuro-linguistic programmer and timeline therapist, and passionate about mindset and emotional management.
“I’ve been coaching for five years now, helping men and women all over Australia with mindset, self-worth and transforming their lives.
“I also run retreats in Bali, run online programs, and have started my own clothing brand, Kynd Wear, which represents my journey into self-love and learning how to be kinder to myself.”
Ms Jayne, 40, had just returned from Bali when she decided to apply for FWAW.
She had already decided to take a break from her coaching from November to January when filming took place.
“When I arrived home from Bali, I had some of my closest girlfriends message me to say FWAW was casting and they encouraged me to apply, because they knew I was ready and looking for love,” she said.
“I specifically applied for FWAW because I grew up on a farm in Mt Compass, South Australia, and I’m so grateful for my country upbringing.
“I guess I’ve always secretly dreamed of bringing my own children up in a similar way with a man who has old school values like the country men that I know, do.
“FWAW has the highest success rate for marriage and kids than any other Australian reality TV show.
“I didn’t know that before I applied, but my intention for going on the show was absolutely to find love and potentially, start my own family with my farmer.”
Filming finished prior to COVID-19 so there is no social distancing on the show but Ms Jayne promised love, tears and laughter.
“You’ll just have to watch it,” she laughed.
In Australia, the series has resulted in nine marriages and 20 babies and returns for its 10th season.
Returning host Natalie Gruzlewski plays Cupid again as she brings together five new farmers – Alex, Harry, Nick, Sam and Neil – on their quest to find true love.
Ms Jayne selected to be in Farmer Neil’s group because of his life experience and she felt a “bit of a spark” reading about him.
He is a 43-year-old sheep farmer from Crookwell, NSW, with three children aged 14 to 17.
FWAW premieres on Channel Seven on Sunday at 7pm.
