Perhaps there’s something special in the Murrumbidgee, or maybe it’s just dumb luck, but the Riverina has a knack for producing some of Australia’s most renowned reality television stars.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Whether it’s singing, dancing, building or even finding love, the region never fails to have a face in the frame.
The Block, Big Brother, Beauty and the Geek, Married at First Sight, The Bachelor, My Kitchen Rules, Dancing With The Stars - that’s just a sample of the shows that have featured Riverina talent.
And don’t we just love it?
We revel in their screen time, our emotions rising and falling as the local lad or lass is put through their paces before millions of viewers across Australia.
Think back to the controversy surrounding Channel Nine’s Married at First Sight’s contestant from Gundagai, Anthony Manton, who claimed producers wrongfully painted him as “the bad guy” during the 2017 season.
Or Wagga-born Australia's Next Top Model star, Belinda Kosorok, who was rushed to hospital in 2016 after a blisteringly cold photo shoot at Tasmania’s Cradle Mountain.
We might even have sang along as Wagga’s country singer-songwriter Nathan Lamont turned the judges during his second shot at glory in The Voice.
Our homegrown reality stars are always cause for concern during their season, but here’s a question for the experts – what happens next?
Once the finale is complete and tears are wiped away, do our shining lights just flicker out?
Do they dissolve into the background and fail to find love or stardom again?
Turns out it’s quite the opposite.
Take Tarcutta’s Paul ‘Macca’ McDonald, a former Farmer Wants a Wife contestant whose highly publicised on-screen split made national headlines in 2009.
Aged 36 at the time, Macca was a fan favourite during season three of the popular Channel Nine series but was left heartbroken during the season finale.
Reflecting on his role in the show, Macca is open and honest.
“I went into the show for all the right reasons but it didn’t really work out for me,” he said.
“You don’t really go out much in the country and I didn’t get to meet many people, so it was something I was willing to try.”
Fast forward nine years and love has found him stronger than ever.
“After all that business with the show, I ended up meeting my wife, Emma, on eHarmony and we’re going really well,” he said.
Now we’ve got two more kids and life is great.
- Paul 'Macca' McDonald
It’s not just a family affair and Macca’s new business, PD McDonald Livestock Transport, has been making waves in the community.
“I started in buy-swap transport a few years back now and we’ve managed to build up a really good clientele,” he said.
“Just ordered a new truck actually, come to think of it.”
It’s a far cry from a prime slot on evening television, but Macca has no regrets from his brief stint as Australia’s reality heart-throb.
“I’d tried a whole bunch of things like online dating and television and in the end I’m here,” he said.
“I’m glad I put myself out there in the past, but things have turned out really well for me. I couldn’t be happier.”
It’s a similar story for his fellow Farmer Wants A Wife season three contestant, Jenny Blake.
Jenny was the first-ever female farmer on the program and quickly garnered a cult following on the program.
She, too, was unable to find love on the show, but found it in a familiar face later in life.
“After the show, the producers asked me to find a single guy for the next series and that was where Mark came in,” she said.
“We’d been friends for about 10 years before and met again out water skiing where he told me he was single.
“They wanted him to be on the next series but we didn’t even bother.”
Jenny now lives with Mark and their four children on a farm in Narrandera – a far cry from the rolling greens of Tumbarumba.
“It’s taken a bit of adjustment,” she admitted.
I’ll admit that I definitely miss the hills in Tumbarumba...
- Former Farmer Wants A Wife contestant Jenny Blake
“My husband’s family is around Cobar and Narrandera and we’re mostly working with sheep and cropping, something that I haven’t had a lot of experience with.
“There’s plenty to do here though - the kids keep me very busy and I’ll help out around the place where I can.”
It would be remiss, however, to say that all the Riverina’s reality stars have settled into a comfortable life.
Others, such as Wagga’s former Beauty and the Geek and Miss World Australia contestant, Breana Gorman, are more determined than ever to return to the screen.
A dancer and singer by trade, Ms Gorman is hoping to launch back into the industry in 2018.
“I’ve actually just quit the beauty pageant scene and I’m auditioning for a bunch of reality shows at the moment,” she told The Daily Advertiser.
“I’m not going to tell you which ones because I don’t want to give anything away at the moment ... but fingers crossed you might see me again on screen in the near future.”
Ms Gorman, who has relocated to Brisbane and currently works in school administration, admitted she would consider returning to the pageant scene if her television dreams fell short.
“I’m just always looking for the next big, exciting thing, you know?” she said.
“I guess maybe I would go back to that – I really do like the charity aspect of beauty pageants and being able to give something back.
“But I’m really hoping to get back into television.”