JOSH’S MELTDOWN MKR’S self-proclaimed seafood king faces the music.

The self-proclaimed seafood king faces the music as his fellow contestants take aim

Following Tyson Murr’s Angry, Angry Man on My Kitchen Rules, Josh Meeuwissen, 25, has pulled focus as the show’s Arrogant Antagonist, drawing ire during other teams’ Instant Restaurants for issuing proclamations such as, “I can fillet a fish with my eyes closed” and “In the kitchen, I’m the boss.” But on Feb. 15, it seemed the Seafood King from Broome, WA, was the fish out of water, flailing in his cook with teacher wife Amy, 26. “I just want to apologise to everybody,” an ashen Josh said. “This is not us at all and I just am genuinely ashamed.”

But what cameras didn’t show was the extent of Josh’s meltdown, which even failed to serve up sweet schadenfreude to teams eager to taste it. “When someone’s been such a chump, you couldn’t wait for him to fall,” says contestant Court Hall-eastey. “But this was bad.”

How bad? Court says, “Amy spent the whole evening crying and when someone delivers your plate, like, bawling her eyes

out, it’s just horrible.”

While Josh and Amy declined to speak to WHO in light of their TV portrayal, others were frank in their assessment of Josh, whose TV persona amplifies the man behind the screen. “I don’t think Joshua went out of his way for quite a while to make any friends,” says Court’s husband, Duncan. Adds Court, “I think he’s a genuine arsehole. That guy cannot be humble. It’s quite amazing.”

This is why most of the teams sided with Josh and Amy’s arch-rivals, Brisbane couple Alyse and Matt Jenner, when Matt implied with an off-the-cuff comment that Amy wasn’t as attractive as Josh, who revealed he had been a model during Kelsey and Amanda’s Instant Restaurant. “She openly says that Josh is ‘the man’ in their relationship,” contends Matt. “Maybe they don’t know how to take a joke.”

Even so, Tully Vella has a considered take on the brash contestant. “I think Josh likes a challenge and he likes to have a constructive conversation,” she says. “I think that’s his plan, to rattle people’s cages.” Duncan counters, “It’s all so juvenile.”

Moving on, Josh and Amy will have to navigate their place amongst the other teams. Amy did give WHO a hint of their resilience in an earlier interview, citing last season’s “villains” Carmine and Lauren as inspiration. “They were knocked down countless times,” Amy said, “and always picked themselves up, pushed harder and proved their harshest critics wrong.”

“That guy cannot be humble. It’s quite amazing” —Court

‘My Kitchen Rules’ airs Sundays at 7 PM and Mondays through Wednesdays at 7.30 PM on Seven.