Huge congratulations to the happy couple!

It was love at first sight for Brad Jones and Clare Hockings on Farmer Wants A Wife, and now they are engaged!

The lovebirds, who found love on the show’s 2023 season, exclusively revealed the news of their engagement with New Idea.

The couple already shares a son, 21-month-old Roy, and is currently expecting their second child together – and now, there is also a wedding on the horizon.

Speaking to New Idea, Brad revealed the moment he popped the question on Clare’s 30th birthday didn’t quite go to plan.
Farmer Wants A Wife lovebirds Brad Jones and Clare Hockings are engaged! (Credit: Supplied)
He had been hoping for a picture-perfect outdoor proposal on their farm in Cootamundra, NSW, but his plans were foiled by the heavy rain.

“It was the worst day ever as far as weather, it was raining sideways, and it happened to be Clare’s birthday, so I really wanted to do it on that day,” he shared.

“That went out the window when it kept raining most of the day! So I literally did it in our house.”

The farmer launched an elaborate ploy to make sure Clare was surprised – pretending he had injured his knee to coax her into the room without suspecting a thing.

“I’ve got bad knees, I’ve had three knee reconstructions, so what I’ve done is pretend I’ve injured my knee and carried on a bit,” he explained.

“I came inside from getting Clare’s present out of the car and came back up the stairs into the house, and made a bit of a scene. I fell down holding my knee and saying ‘oh, I’ve buggered my knee!’.

“Then Clare came round and said, ‘What’s wrong?’, and I said, ‘Oh, I’m no good!’, and she went to help me up, and that’s when I got on one knee and pulled the ring out!”

Brad even admitted that he had feigned knee pain in the days leading up to the proposal – and his plan worked, with Clare being none the wiser!
Clare described her ring – a pink and white gold band – as “beautiful”. (Credit: Supplied)
“I didn’t think twice, he’s always complaining about his knees,” she confessed.

“Especially how he did it, I didn’t think that was what was happening!”

Their infant son, Roy, was equally as confused, sweetly thinking Brad was in pain because of his fake injury.

“He was very concerned; he thought something had happened to Da,” Clare said.

“He was freaking out and thought there was something wrong with me, and then when I [proposed], Clare started crying, so he thought something was actually wrong,” Brad added.

“He sort of panicked a bit; he didn’t cry, but he was freaked out,” Clare explained.
Their son Roy, 21 months, was there for the proposal. (Credit: Supplied)
Brad popped the question with a gorgeous pink and white gold sparkler, and Clare was blown away by the perfect engagement ring.

She gushed: “It’s beautiful! I’m very impressed with his picking-out skills!”

Though the proposal wasn’t exactly how Brad had planned, Clare insisted it made her birthday extra special all the same.

“It was my 30th, and we didn’t really have any plans for the day, and also the weather was so awful, but it really made my birthday, that’s for sure! It was really exciting,” she insisted.

The couple is now in the early days of wedding planning, but is first focusing on welcoming their second child, who is due in a matter of weeks.

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A post shared by Clare Hockings (@clare_hockings)

“It will definitely be a farm wedding, we knew that before we got engaged, but we’ve got a bit on before then with having a baby,” Clare explained.

They are hoping to tie the knot on Brad’s family farm in September or October 2026, surrounded by their families and friends.

Though they were hoping for a small-scale wedding, they admitted the invite list is already getting bigger than they expected.

Brad said, “As much as we’d like it to stay small, I can’t see that happening!”
Brad and Clare welcomed their son Roy in December 2023. (Credit: Instagram)
“That’s a lie, Brad would love {a big wedding}, he’d have thousands if it was up to him,” Clare joked.

But before saying “I do”, Brad and Clare will be welcoming their second child in the coming weeks, while Roy also turns two in December.

The couple doesn’t know if they are having a boy or a girl, but shared their excitement over giving Roy a sibling.

However, Brad also shared his apprehension over things getting ever busier in their household.

“We’ve only got a few weeks to go before the second one’s here, I don’t know how we’re going to go to be honest, Roy’s a handful and throw another baby in the mix, we’re going to know we’re alive,” he admitted.

They have come a long way since meeting on the 2023 series of Farmer Wants A Wife, and the couple admitted they often forget that they met on a TV show.
The couple admitted they often forget that they met on reality TV. (Credit: Instagram)
“It’s funny, we don’t really give it much thought on how we met anymore, it’s back to normal life for us,” Brad said.

“I often forget that’s how it happened,” Clare added.

When asked if they’d recommend seeking out love on TV, Brad gushed: “I definitely would, Clare didn’t enjoy it as much; it was harder for the girls, but we can’t really say no because look at where we are now.

“As hard as the filming, the limelight and the cameras were, it’s worked out really well and it’s a good story to tell.”