Cooking up controversy:
Contestants turn up the heat on MKR.
Heather Andersen and Mitch MacDonald have been labelled the villains of My Kitchen Rules New Zealand.
It is a label the ultra-competitive Christchurch friends acquired thanks to their frank comments on the show’s first episode where their bravado was firmly on display.
“We did come in quite hot to be honest,” says Heather.
“Both of us work in sales so it’s in our nature to back ourselves. We both work for commission and so, compared to the other teams, we probably are a bit stronger.
“We just wanted to show we were excited to be there and that we were backing ourselves and (were) confident. But I think perhaps it probably came across more arrogant than confident, maybe.
“I wouldn’t call either Mitch or I arrogant, but we are very confident people and, of course, we’re both loud so, you know, a big combo, and it all kind of came off a bit pear shaped. I wouldn’t take it back but maybe a bit more softly, softly was probably the approach in hindsight.”
One of Heather’s comments about Maddie and Charlotte, the show’s youngest team, didn’t go down well with fans.
“I’m concerned for the little girls What kind of food are they going to cook for us? Chicken nuggets at the kids’ table?,” says Heather on camera.
Speaking to TV Guide, Heather says, “I don’t even know why I said that. I probably underestimated them a little bit.”
While she might come across on screen as mean, Mitch reckons there is another side to Heather.
“Heather’s awesome,” he says.
“She’s the most amazing, passionate, loyal person you can come across. She’s obviously very strong minded and strong willed and with that comes loyalty.
Everyone that meets Heather says she’s got this warm personality and this amazing laugh that brings everyone together.”
Heather, 29, a sales manager, and Mitch, 39, a real estate agent, are not a couple but they share a passion for entertaining.
“Mitch and I went to the same high school,” says Heather.
“Obviously he’s a few years older than me. He is dating one of my best friends but we have a lot of mutual friends as well.
“We were always bumping into each other and then it was like, ‘Oh cooking. OK’ and then we kind of just kicked off really.
“He’s great. I couldn’t imagine doing it with anyone else. He makes me laugh all the time. I’m a bit more of a stresser than he is. So it’s a good pairing.” This season of My Kitchen Rules
New Zealand is only 10 episodes long and has celebrity chefs Pete Evans and Manu Feildel as judges.
The show travels around the country
as the six teams of two host the all-important instant restaurants.
To prepare for their instant restaurant episode, Heather and Mitch cooked for friends and family.
“We did about 25 dinner parties with maybe 17 people or more,” says Heather. “We did probably three a week. We wanted to prepare as well as we could and get the kinks out. But we do love entertaining.
“Obviously we’re in it to win it. You’d be silly to go in it thinking not practising was going to get you through.”
Mitch says he and Heather make a good team for several reasons.
“We’re quite well organised and we know our own strengths, which is a good direction to go in.
“If there is protein to be cooked, whether it be fish, lamb, venison or steak, I generally take control over the protein.
“Heather is into the desserts and we both sort of chip away at the entree so we don’t get in each other’s way much in the kitchen.
“We stick to our strengths and sort of come together at the end. Heather is good at plating up. I’m quite a messy person in the kitchen so she takes control of that.”
The two foodies say they haven’t decided what they will do if they win the series and the $100,000.
“We talk about it all the time,” says Heather. Ideas discussed include writing a cook book and opening a restaurant.
Heather thinks their biggest competition will come from Wellington hairdressers Teal and Sophie. She calls them “the silent assassins”.