Dinner dates
Back after a break, My Kitchen Rules is changing its recipe, with new judges and a focus on positivity. Siobhan Duck speaks with returning judge Manu Feildel about the surprises in store this season
AT THE height of the TV kitchen wars, Manu Feildel didn’t think he’d ever see the day that one of his former
MasterChef rivals would join him at the My Kitchen Rules dinner table.
And yet, here he is, with not only his good mate
Matt Preston involved in Channel 7’s MKR reboot but the domestic goddess herself, Nigella Lawson, as well.
This year, Lawson pulls up a seat next to Feildel for round one of the competition, while Preston will be his dining companion for the second sitting, later in the season.
“MKR and MasterChef have always been up against each other because they’ve been on different networks but [the original judges] Matt, George (Calombaris) and Gary (Mehigan) and myself have always been good mates,” Feildel smiles.
“It’s wonderful to be working with Matt again
[the pair also joined forces for the short-lived 2020 series Plate of Origin]. He knows everything about everything [to do with food] which is fantastic.”
Feildel has also enjoyed sharing the screen with Lawson who, although having years of experience as a cookbook author and TV host, is relatively new to reality TV – aside from the occasional guest appearance on MasterChef.
Even still, Feildel says he didn’t feel like he needed to pass on any pointers to the British star on how to judge the dishes that are put in front of them.
“We don’t really judge, as such,” he explains.
“We are just people sitting around a table who have been asked what we think about the dishes.
“Nigella has plenty of experience with lots of different cuisines from all around the world. She’s not a professional chef. She’s a home cook as well and she mentions that over and over again. But she knows what good food and bad food is, simple as that.”
The involvement of Preston and Lawson in MKR’s small-screen return has been somewhat bittersweet for Feildel because it comes at the expense of his long-time co-star Pete Evans, who was jettisoned from the network after a string of controversies.
“I was sad [Evans didn’t return] and there was a bit of an empty space, I suppose,” Feildel says.
“Pete and I have known each other for 22 years and we’ve been working together for over 12 or 13 years. We’re still good mates today.
“But you know, it is what it is. It’s a new chapter. We have turned the page. He’s happy where he’s at and
I am happy where I am at, we’re just not working together anymore.”
Feildel says he has spoken to Evans since the reboot was announced and his former co-star has no sour grapes and wished him well with it.
Another big change to the MKR recipe in 2022 has been the elimination of confected drama and nastiness.
Over the course of the series, MKR followed the lead of other reality shows at the time and became increasingly about the bitterness between contestants rather than the cooking itself.
Feildel never had much of a stomach for the more explosive arguments and controversies that marred the later seasons of MKR.
And he believes audiences have had a gutful of that sort of carry on too.
“I am not the type of guy who likes fighting or arguing anyway, especially when we should be having a good time together,” he says.
“We got rid of all of that. We’ve had enough difficulties in these last three years with COVID, so we just want to share some good moments on the screen again.”
Although the silver lining of the pandemic for Feildel meant spending more time at home at his own dinner table with his wife and young daughter, rediscovering his
joy for cooking for loved ones, he has relished being back on the road again with MKR.
Feildel believes audiences will respond well to seeing people doing so many of the things that they missed most during the lockdowns – travelling, entertaining and socialising.
“It’s more about the food and bringing the positive back to it, which is what MKR used to be,” Feildel enthuses.
“Getting rid of the negativity, travelling again, being able to socialise again. Just sitting around a table and having some good food
and a couple of glasses of wine and just having some laughter, we just needed it.”
While the show has returned its focus to the food rather than the fights, Feildel says that doesn’t mean viewers should expect to see Michelin-star cuisine being plated up at the dinner parties.
“The food is home-cooked food, nothing is fine dining,” he says.
“It’s just honest food shared around the table. We have some really good food and some not-so-good food too.
“The stress of cooking for a table of 12 people is always going to be hard so there’s always something that’s going to happen.”
My Kitchen Rules, Sunday, 7pm; MondayTuesday, 7.30pm, Seven
Manu Feildel: “Just sitting around a table and having some good food and a couple of glasses of wine and just having some laughter, we just needed it.”