Thanks to an inundation of advertising, it’s no secret Australia’s biggest networks are currently engaged in the reality ratings battle to end all battles.

Nine is pulling out the romance with Farmer Wants a Wife, and the dancing, singing kids with Australia’s Got Talent.

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Meanwhile, Channel Seven has returned to its ever-reliable audience favourite My Kitchen Rules for a seventh season and Network Ten has sent some C-listers into the jungle for I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here!.

While many of the contestants in these shows fit the general reality stereotype, there are a few rare birds – standouts who defy the norm and are refreshing to watch.

Farmer wants an MP

Megan Purcell, 31, is one of four contestants competing to become 36-year-old livestock farmer Julz’s potential wife on Nine’s dating show The Farmer Wants a Wife.

The Maldon-based businesswoman and army reservist is also the Liberal candidate for Bendigo who recently won the seat’s preselection ballot.

According to Megan, she did not go on the show to increase her public profile but rather to appease friends and family encouraging her to do it.

“I think everyone’s entitled to get out there and have their search for love,” Megan told ABC Central Victoria.

“But at the same time, that doesn’t mean that I’m not an intelligent person, that I’m not someone who can get out there and fight and represent my community.”

Viewers must wait to see if Megan is successful on the show, but Julz seemed fairly smitten after their five-minute speed date.

“I think I blew him away. Not gonna lie,” Megan said after the date.

From Ethiopian orphanage to talent show stage

Many reality show contestants typically have a difficult backstory, but 14-year-old TJ Krause has had a particularly challenging journey to the Australia’s Got Talent stage.

Adopted from an Ethiopian orphanage at the age of two, TJ has memories of malnutrition and a traumatic death in the family.

“My father died in front of me,” he told Adelaide Now.

“He took me to work [on a farm] and was with a bull in a cage … he turned his back and it charged him.

“Mum couldn’t take care of us anymore so she put us up for adoption when my brother wasn’t even one.

“I never got the proper nutrition I needed when I was a baby and then I got mash potatoes twice a day at the orphanage,” the teenager from Maslin Beach in South Australia recalled.

“It was pretty disgusting.”

TJ wowed both the crowd and the judges on Monday night with his incredible drumming skills and, later, his equally impressive dance skills, with judge Kelly Osbourne declaring: “You’re a star!”

The cougar and the cub

There are plenty of odd couples on Seven’s My Kitchen Rules, but Queensland couple Matt and Cheryl are definitely the most likeable.

With a 25-year age gap (she turns 51 on Friday; he’s 26) they’ve nicknamed themselves “the cougar and the cub” and seem entirely unfazed by people’s opinions.

“It’s water off a duck’s back, who cares what people think?” Matt said during an appearance on The Morning Show.

“We want to say to everyone out there that age doesn’t matter. Why should a number make a difference about who you’re with, who you enjoy your time with and how you go through life. Society shouldn’t dictate that,” Cheryl told Seven of her relationship, which began in a casino.

Added Matt: “Yeah it might seem weird but there’s 50 year-old men going out with 18-year-old women and that’s not frowned upon in society. What we’re doing is something that is showing that females have a right to do whatever they want and if we enjoy each other’s company, then it doesn’t matter.”

Add to that their penchant for sexual innuendo and you’ve got a winning combination. May their kitchen skills be just as fiery as their personalities.

Fighting for his 15 minutes of fame

Billed as a “Hollywood heartthrob”, Dean Geyer’s appearance on I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! was disappointing for some.

“Dean Geyer … sorry, but Hollywood heartthrob? Get your hand off it,” radio host Chrissie Swan said of the show’s ad campaign.

“Hollywood heartthrob he ain’t. That was putting us off the scent a little bit too much.”

However, Geyer is actually one of the more impressive “celebrities” to feature on the show.

After placing third on Australian Idol in 2006, South-African born Geyer seemed doomed to join the growing pile of has-beens produced by our country’s many talent shows.

However, Geyer cleverly parlayed his 15 minutes into a role on Neighbours, followed by a successful series of bit-parts on major US television shows.

The most notable: a singing and dancing role as Brody on Glee season four, a role as Jennifer Lopez’s love interest in police procedural Shades of Blue and a gig on Jason Reitman’s comedy Casual.

A triple threat who’s managed to crack Hollywood? Maybe we should be giving this guy more credit.