Alyse and Matt deny they cheated on My Kitchen Rules by using store bought paste

A COUPLE accused of cheating on TV’s top show My Kitchen Rules have hit back hard at the claims from fellow contestants.

ALYSE and Matt Jenner have hit back at claims they cheated on My Kitchen Rules tonight.

The Queensland couple were called out by judge Pete Evans for using a jar of store-bought curry paste in their Birdcage instant restaurant on the Channel 7 cooking show.

Evans took aim at the pair for not making their own curry paste for their beef satay with pumpkin and coconut rice main course.

Pete Evans confronts MKR contestants Alyse and Matt about the bought curry paste. Picture: Channel 7

Evans was so angry he forced Alyse and Matt to return to the kitchen and bring out the offending jar for all the contestants to see.

Later Evans and fellow judge Manu Feildel gave Alyse and Matt a dismal 1 out of 10 for their dish, sending them crashing into a sudden death elimination cook-off against Josh and Amy Meeuwissen.

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“This is a cooking competition and we expect you to cook the basic elements from scratch,” Evans scolded.

Matt Jenner shows his MKR rivals the curry paste he and Alyse used. Picture: Channel 7

Alyse and Matt dispute the claim, arguing other teams have used store-bought ingredients without penalty.

“Being labelled a cheat is really disappointing for us,” Amy told News Corp Australia. “We definitely don’t feel that we cheated.

“Other contestants have used all manner of store-bought stuff including chilli sauce, packet breadcrumbs, and tinned tomatoes. We didn’t think that the curry paste was that much different.

“Our recipe had 13 ingredients in it and the curry paste was such a small element of that dish. We were taken aback (by Evans’ criticism).”

Alyse and Matt’s satay main did not appease Evans’ chagrin. Picture: Channel 7

Alyse and Matt have also returned fire over the judges’ comments they didn’t serve up a true satay dish.

Evans said “there is nothing satay about this,” Feildel said “just because you sprinkle a few peanuts over the top you can’t call it a satay” and “what you promised is not what we received”.

“You can go to Spirit House on the Sunshine Coast — one of Queensland’s best Thai restaurants — and that is where we learned that dish,” Alyse fumed.

Alyse and Matt had much more success with their entree of pork san choy bau which received eight out of 10 from the judges.

Alyse and Matt plate up their entree of pork san choy bau which was highly praised by the judges. Picture: Channel 7

The couple’s dessert of vanilla panna cotta with mandarin and biscotti also delivered the pair a high of eight out of 10.

Seizing on the scandal, rival Josh was quick to label Alyse and Matt “cheats” and used the curry controversy to score the entire meal 1 out of 10.

Josh and Amy, who are now in the sudden death elimination, called Alyse and Matt ‘cheats’. Picture: Channel 7

The low score gave Matt and Alyse a combined teams total of 19 out of 50 and an overall score of 52 out of 110.

“To hear that Josh scored us one out of ten, I’m pretty angry,” Alyse said. “I didn’t think we deserved to be in the cook-off.”

MKR CHEATING SCANDALS

Kerrie And Craig with Manu Feildel.

Season 4 — Kerrie & Craig from Victoria used a pre-packaged spice mix.

Tasmania’s Ali and Samuel.

Season 4 — Ali and Samuel from Tasmania used store bought curry paste.

MKR contestants Chloe and Kelly. Photographer: Richard Hatherly

Season 5 — Chloe & Kelly from WA used store-bought bread in their entree and store-bought puff pastry in their dessert.

Originally published as Alyse and Matt deny they cheated on My Kitchen Rules by using store bought paste