Mieke’s journey on Farmer Wants A Wife ended in heartbreak after Zac chose to leave the show with Maya on Monday night. But once the cameras stopped rolling, the pair had one final conversation — a surprise phone call from Zac that reframes the entire ending.
Monday night’s episode also featured a surprise proposal, with former contestants farmer Tom and Georgie from last year’s season announcing they were engaged.
Speaking exclusively, the former flight attendant revealed how she turned the heartbreak into a major life shift and opened up about the unexpected call from the South Australian apple farmer days after filming wrapped.
After their romantic moment on the harbour at the black-tie dinner — where they shared a kiss — Mieke said she felt quietly confident she would be the one Zac chose. A week apart changed that. The distance left the 22-year-old questioning their connection. During the home visit she described the time with Zac as “awkward.”
“A lot of time had passed, and I was just like really in my head,” Mieke said. “I just was not feeling confident. I was feeling not the best about mine and Zac’s connection, like it suddenly just felt really awkward.”
Opening up to her family about the relationship was uncomfortable; she doesn’t usually discuss her dating life with them. While their final date was “really lovely,” she felt they needed more time. She went into the final decision uncertain which way farmer Zac would go.
“I wasn’t 100 per cent confident he was going to choose me and when Zac started getting really emotional, I was like, ‘OK, it’s not me’. I respected his decision – he had to do what was right for him.”
Zac was in tears as he told her he didn’t see a future for them. Mieke remained composed on camera. She admits she “put on a brave face.”
“I really liked Zac at that point and like I had expressed to him, I was falling for him,” she said. “It was heartbreaking, I was destroyed on the inside, but I grew up in the dance industry, so I have learned to keep myself together. I also knew if I broke down it would have just made it so much harder on Zac, so it was a lot just out of respect to him. I truly respect his decision and he did what’s right for him, so I can’t then turn around and feel upset about it. I was definitely putting on a brave face, but inside I was dying.”
She held it together for Zac’s sake. She described him as genuine from the start: “He’s such a lovely person and you really see that the whole way through. Every time he had to make a decision it was so hard because he didn’t want to hurt anyone. I think his emotions were very genuine and I don’t know if you can see it on camera but he was shaking like a leaf like when we were holding hands before he said it wasn’t me.”
After her elimination, Mieke left without another chance to speak to him and assumed that was the end. Instead, Zac later surprised her with a phone call to check in and make sure she was okay.
“We talked things through, which was really nice,” Mieke said. “We had the opportunity to debrief, there was no regrets on both sides. We spoke about my experience with production, because I had a very different experience to the other girls.”
She acknowledges that not being as open or upfront about her feelings as the other women meant she was overlooked. The experience taught her to communicate more openly in future relationships.
“I learned a lot about myself,” she said. “I think the biggest takeaway for me was communication is so important in a relationship. My standards for men are even higher than before, which is a problem because they were already really high.”
While not actively dating, the 22-year-old is open to meeting new people. Since filming ended she has moved from the Adelaide Hills to Melbourne and is working in the fashion industry — a welcome sea change. She has also reconnected with Maya; the pair remain in close contact.
Zac left the show with Maya. In parallel, farmer Jason from Queensland chose Poppy. Logan, 28, kept her response brief: “I’m glad I met him and got to know him. I hope he’s happy and gets what he wants.”
What looked like a definitive goodbye on screen was not quite the full story. Zac’s post-show call gave both the chance to close the chapter cleanly — no lingering regrets, mutual respect intact, and a clearer path forward for Mieke beyond the farm.