'Never seen anything like it': Rand bartender says locals 'sized up' celebrity farmer

Bartender Brodie Partington told The Border Mail it was the biggest spectacle the pub had ever seen.

In the second-last episode of television's Farmer Wants a Wife, Condobolin farmer Dustin Manwaring visited Sophie Trethowan's hometown to meet her family and have a pint with the locals.

Ms Partington said staff had been busy cleaning up the bar days before the event.

"We have never seen anything like it," she said.

"Everybody was there; we had about 50 people lining up to get in at 9 o'clock in the morning.

"We sold plenty of beer."

Despite efforts to keep the event low-key, word spread quickly.

"We all tried to keep it a little hush-hush, just for Sophie's sake," Ms Partington said.

"But once word got out, it spread like wildfire and everyone came down. There were a few people that thought that we were selling the pub and thought the film crews were there for that.

"Then it came together that Soph was on Farmer Wants a Wife, and everyone was absolutely thrilled for her."

Ms Partington said not everyone was impressed at first by the cameras, lights and pageantry, with a few locals putting "Dusty from Condo" through his paces.

"The McRae boys (Zack, Lewis and Joel) were definitely sizing him up a bit," she said.

"They were taking everything in their stride. We're all pretty close, so a few of the blokes were a bit like, 'Hmm, let's just suss him out and make sure he's good enough for Soph'.

After the filming wrapped, Ms Partington said, Dustin mingled with the locals, talking about harvesting and farming.

"The McRae boys wanted him to stay around and have some more beers, but obviously, he's a busy man and he had things to do," she said.

"I'm sure there'll be more catch-ups at the Rand Hotel with Dusty in the future."

Ms Partington said that, in the end, everyone was ecstatic for Sophie and wished her the best with Dustin.

"It was pretty exciting that one of the true blue locals like Soph got to experience something like that and experience it in Rand," she said.

"Everyone hopes the best for Sophie and Dustin, and can't wait to see a little bit more of him around town."

It can be revealed that the celebrity farmer drinks Great Northern.