TV ratings reveal bad night for revamped My Kitchen Rules on Channel 7

Sunday was a big night for Aussie reality TV, with clear winners and losers. Not even Nigella gave viewers an appetite for My Kitchen Rules.

It seems not even Nigella Lawson could save flailing reality TV franchise, My Kitchen Rules.

The three major commercial TV networks – Seven, Nine and Ten – on Sunday night launched the crown jewels in their reality calendar with new seasons of My Kitchen Rules (MKR), The Block and The Masked Singer.

In a first snapshot of ozTam ratings figures from the night, not taking into account on demand stats that will be released later in the week, MKR flopped on its relaunch with Lawson and Manu Feildel at the helm as judges.

MKR drew a five city metro audience of 503,000 viewers, compared to the 598,000 viewers for The Masked Singer and 867,000 watching The Block.

The top program of the night overall was Seven News with a five city metro audience of 982,000.

Nigella Lawson joined My Kitchen Rules star Manu Feildel in the new season on Ch 7. Picture: Jeremy Greive

Following declining ratings in 2019 and 2020, which saw MKR viewers criticise the show for overdoing it on the dramatics, Seven put the series on pause for two years. Around that time, judge Pete Evans also left the network following a string of controversies.

Lawson, paired with Feildel, has been heavily promoted in the lead up to the launch episode with a revamped format that the network promised would breathe fresh air into the format with a refocus on its core values of “real food and real people” in 2022.

Seven though today said it was happy with the total launch ratings figures, taking into account additional across catch-up, live online and regional.

“MKR is off to a solid start, with more than 800,000 viewers overnight nationally on Seven and 7plus, including an 82 per cent increase in BVOD viewing,” a Seven spokeswoman said.

“MKR’s launch episode audience number will grow over the next seven days as catch-up viewing takes place.”

Sky-high figures for The Block AU’s launch may be a result of Nine touting the shock exit of contestants social media influencer Elle Ferguson, and her AFL partner Joel Patfull, as the most dramatic thing to happen in its 18 seasons.

Scott Cam and Shelly Craft from The Block Seachange. Picture: Supplied

The pair left the show after just three days of filming, amid reports they flew to Adelaide to look after Patfull’s mother after a nasty fall.

Longtime host of the competition, Scott Cam has been sledging the couple’s behaviour as “p*ss poor” and “unAustralian”.

However, Confidential was told of claims Nine has been exaggerating truths and embellishing storylines in a bid to stir up extra publicity for the program, which debuted to mediocre ratings last year.

In August 2021, The Block premiere attracted a dismal 591,000 metro viewers — the lowest viewership recorded in the show’s entire 17-season run.

A source close to the pair has said they feel they are being used as a vehicle to promote the show.

“(Nine) need this season to work as there’s a lot at stake,” one insider said.

“Elle and Joel were the most high-profile talent on the show and they don’t have them any more, so they still need to find a way to incorporate them in their promos.

“It’s clear what Nine’s tactic is and, to be honest, it’s working for them.”