Farmer Wants A Wife mushroom and cattle farmer Alex has revealed the real reasons behind his surprise decision to leave the show early with Eddy, ending his search for love before the finale aired on Sunday night. Speaking publicly for the first time about the dramatic exit, Alex opened up about the letter discovery that he says became a turning point, his honest self-reflection about how he handled the fallout, and the family advice that ultimately helped him make up his mind.

The letter that changed everything

Although Alex had noticed Eddy — a 30-year-old Queensland woman — from early in the experience, he insists he had not yet made a firm decision heading into their final bath house date together.

"Going into that date, I hadn't really made my mind up," Alex said. "But I would say after that night, and the events that transpired after the date, I got clearer on where my head was at, which was sort of unfortunate. But that was just the nature of the experience."

Those events centred on fellow contestant Rachel, 25, discovering a letter written by Eddy — something Alex described as deeply unexpected. He had returned from the date anticipating more time to get to know the remaining women, making the confrontation all the more jarring.

"We didn't know that things had tipped so far off the edge for them that day," Alex said. "So because of that, and then gradually piecing together that Rachel had found Eddy's diary, I wasn't really able to process things."

Alex acknowledged he did not handle the confrontation as well as he could have, saying it was "the one time" on the show he was not happy with his own reaction. "I don't think I was probably being as empathetic as I could have been," he said. "I wasn't as balanced as I could have been."

Understanding Rachel's reaction — but standing by Eddy

Despite his regret over his own response, Alex said he understood why Rachel reacted the way she did after reading the letter. "She was of course seeing our connection and that would trigger a response in her," he said.

He was careful not to condemn Rachel's decision to read the letter, but noted it was not something he personally would have done. "If I'd stumbled across someone's journal, I just put it down," he said. "But she made the choice and that was what unfolded."

Alex subsequently sent Rachel home. He acknowledged that the blowup made it nearly impossible to restore any romantic equilibrium. "When I'm trying to get to know Rachel as well as Eddy, and then Rachel and I have a fight, it makes it difficult to get back to some kind of balance romance," he said.

A 'hard and fast decision' — with family backing

While the letter drama accelerated events, Alex said the true turning point came when he recognised the experience was drawing to a close and he needed to act decisively. Before committing, he turned to the people he trusts most: his parents.

"They've both been through their own fair share of difficult relationships, so I definitely take what they say seriously," he said. He singled out his mother in particular, describing her as having an "excellent perception of people" — and she had taken to Eddy from the moment they met.

Alex described himself as someone who falls hard and fast, and admitted he had fallen for Eddy more quickly than she had for him. Despite that imbalance, he said he never doubted the outcome. "I was confident we were going to leave together," he said, adding he has no regrets about his choice to walk away from the show before its finale.

The early exit marks one of the more dramatic departures in the show's recent seasons, with the letter discovery and subsequent confrontation reshaping what had appeared to be an open competition between multiple women for the farmer's heart.