Kitchen war heats up for Nigella Lawson, Survivor’s epic revenge and Billy’s nude wedding

He’s grabbing headlines as King Khanh on Survivor but it’s his real-life revenge move that will shock you.

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Is there a tug of TV love going on over British super chef Nigella Lawson?

With the announcement on Monday that Lawson would be in town for the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, the question of what else she would do while in Australia was raised and the obvious answer is TV.

The clearest move would be for her to pop over to Ascot Vale following her MFAW lunch on March 27 and be an international guest judge on MasterChef Australia.

She could squeeze in a few days of filming while in town and we know she loves the show. She has appeared on it before; the last time as a hologram during the 2021 Covid lockdown.

But could she be lured away from Channel 10’s hit cooking show by Channel 7?

Nigella Lawson appeared as a hologram on last season’s MasterChef but could be here for real this season.

Seven is getting seriously back into the kitchen this year with the reboot of MKR along with an Australian version of Kitchen Nightmares.

Both are casting at the moment.

Seven has made no secret of the fact it wants an international judge – or judges – on the show alongside Manu Feildel.

Seven’s Director of Scheduling Brook Hall said in a recent interview Feildel would be joined by “some big international food stars.” Lawson fits that bill.

The reboot will see a shorter, sharper, condensed version of MKR plated up for viewers rather than the long and winding offering that hampered the last few seasons of the show before it was axed at the end of 2020.

Manu Feildel is confirmed for the new season of My Kitchen Rules, but who will he stand beside? Picture: Tim Hunter

Applicants have been told filming will be full time for two months from around late April until late June.

Meanwhile Gordon Ramsay, the face of the UK and US versions of the series won’t be fronting the Australian version of Kitchen Nightmares.

A casting call suggests a local “celebrity chef and restaurateur” will be doing the overhaul of struggling eateries.

Filming is slated for April through to July.

SURVIVOR’S ULTIMATE REVENGE

Talk about a reality TV revenge move.

Australian Survivor’s Khanh Ong has revealed he asked Channel 10 to include a billboard on the Nepean Highway in the rollout of his “King Khanh” campaign so four of his ex-boyfriends could not miss seeing him as reality TV royalty.

“The best part of all of the posters and the billboards is one of them is in an intersection on the Nepean Highway that four of my ex-boyfriends have to drive past going to and from work,” he said.

“I just love that they have to see King Khanh as they are going by. That is the energy I am giving out in 2022.

“It is on the corner of Nepean Highway and South Road, it is a major intersection. It has been a lot of fun, I did not think the campaign would be this big.”

Khanh Ong has played the ultimate revenge move.

Khanh shows off his strategically placed billboard.

BUSTLING BILLY STRIPS FOR CASH

Triple M’s Billy Brownless has revealed he stripped off at a wedding that he was paid to attend.

It is only February and already 2022 has thrown up some surprising stories and this is certainly one of them.

Brownless was paid to MC a wedding in the Yarra Valley earlier this month.

“(I) get around and talk to all the guests, have a beer with them, introduce the wedding party and things like that, and whatever else I (am) asked to do,” he explained to his Rush Hour co-hosts.

“A groomsman came up and he said, ‘we are doing an activity later on and I want to get you involved.’

“I said, ‘Oh yeah, what is it,’ thinking I am here (and) I am getting paid.

“He said, ‘at the last seven weddings I have been to I have got naked’.

“Him and his mate, two blokes, at the last seven they have been to, they get naked, for some reason. I don’t know why they do.”

Brownless went along with the request – which was caught on camera by the groomsman’s wife.

“We went out to the fields, they took their gear off – naked, stark naked – and I just stood in the background with them,” he said.

A little probing revealed he got away with just taking off his shirt – “that was enough” – by positioning himself artfully behind the two blokes who bared all.

CHANNEL 10 STILL LOVES A SPORTSMAN

A high profile sportsman saying yes to being The Bachelor is clearly still on the wish list for Channel 10 and the show’s production team.

It is slowly emerging just which sports stars have been quietly sounded out for the gig in recent years.

Olympic swimmer Geoff Huegill is one and according to show insiders triple Hawthorn premiership player Josh Gibson was approached several years ago.

Gibson is now very much loved up with he and his partner Ashley Bright welcoming a son last September.

Ex-Richmond champ Alex Rance was widely rumoured to have been in the producers sights a couple of seasons ago.

Meanwhile watch for Huegill to emerge from obscurity as one of the headline makers of the new season of SAS: Australia.

Producers have been chasing a sporting identity, like former swimmer Geoff Huegill for the Bachelor. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Alex Rance enjoying life away from AFL footy but was in the sights of love matchers. Picture: Getty Images

The former Olympic swimmer has been out of the spotlight for a number of years after he and his then wife Sara Hill pleaded guilty to cocaine possession in 2014.

The pair were given six-month good behaviour bonds in Sydney’s Waverley Local Court after being caught with the prohibited drug when they emerged from a disabled toilet at Randwick racecourse in April that year.

Each was caught with less than one gram of the drug in their possession.

Their marriage has since ended.

Huegill is said to be one of the most compelling contestants on SAS: Australia which kicks off on Monday, February 21 on Channel 7 as he opens up about his personal struggles including his marriage breakdown and weight gain, while giving the show’s hellish challenges a real crack.

He is also expected to spill the beans on being asked to be The Bachelor after his marriage ended.

SUPER BOWL RAMS RATE

Sportsmad Melburnians have once again proved if there is a ball involved they will watch it.

Channel 7 will no doubt be more than satisfied with the ratings of its Super Bowl coverage that started at 10am and went through to midafternoon on Monday.

The broadcast averaged 391,000 capital city viewers, with 133,00 of them being in Melbourne. Sydney was not quite as turned on with 97,000 viewers.

US rapper Eminem at the Super Bowl halftime show. Picture: AFP

NEIGHBOURS HAS GOOD FRIENDS

An online petition to save the iconic Australian TV show Neighbours from the chopping block has topped the 54,000 mark.

The UK organiser of the chang.org petition has a goal of getting 75,000 fans supporting the call to keep Neighbours on air.

Fans were left stunned when it was announced last week that Channel 5 was not renewing its contract meaning it would cease funding and airing it in Britain, leaving the show’s producer, Fremantle, to try and find a new UK broadcaster.

The show will continue filming in Melbourne until June 10.

“As you know the future of the show has been uncertain for some time. Our audience remains steady and Channel 10 would love the show to continue if we could find another broadcast partner to replace C5,” executive producer Jason Herbison said.

“These discussions are ongoing however there is no new broadcaster at the moment and production must end, effectively resting the show.

“We are so proud of the show, you all and everything that you’ve achieved. But for now, this chapter is closing and we want to work together to give Neighbours the amazing send-off it deserves.”

Originally published as Kitchen war heats up for Nigella Lawson, Survivor’s epic revenge and Billy’s nude wedding