Nigella Lawson joining My Kitchen Rules on Channel 7

Channel 7 has made a sneaky new move for the revival of My Kitchen Rules this year, nabbing Channel 10’s star MasterChef guest judge, Nigella Lawson.

International cooking superstar Nigella Lawson will join the cast of My Kitchen Rules this year, despite previously appearing on regular seasons of MasterChef on Channel 10.

Channel 7 confirmed the news today in a statement, revealing the British foodie queen will be joining Manu Feildel as host along with another former Ten star, MasterChef judge Matt Preston.

Celebrity chefs Colin Fassnidge and Curtis Stone will also return as guest judges.

Nigella Lawson is joining Channel 7’s MKR after years of MasterChef guest appearances. Picture: Supplied/Channel 7

Lawson said she “can’t wait” to join the show alongside Manu.

“Going to restaurants can be a treat, but for me, the true story of food is told through the cooking we do at home,” said Lawson, 62.

“So, to have the chance to champion home cooks and be given the intimate privilege of being invited into people’s homes to eat their food fills me with gratitude and excitement in equal measure!

“I’m so looking forward to working with Manu too. Although he’s a chef and I’m a home cook, the fact is we both just want to eat good food. I feel I’ve got a lot to learn from him, but just know we’ll have a lot of fun in the process. I can’t wait!”

Manu Feildel and Nigella Lawson will host the new look MKR for Channel 7 in 2022. Picture: Supplied/Channel 7.

It comes after the show was dropped from the programming schedule last year amid dire ratings and the sensational exit of disgraced celebrity chef Pete Evans.

Rob McKnight, a former Channel 10 executive producer who now runs industry news site TV Blackbox, declared the TV show “dead” after it trailed embarrassingly far behind the other networks at the time.

The 2020 premiere pulled in just 498,000 (five city metro) viewers, compared with 1.5 million for the Australian Open Men’s Final and 884,000 for the I’m a Celeb finale.

“There won’t be any more of the show,” Mr McKnight told news.com.au. “You might as well write the eulogy and prepare the coffin … it will not be back again.”

Evans was sacked in May 2020 following the season flop and amid several health advice controversies including claiming coronavirus could be eradicated by a $14,990 “BioCharger” device he spruiked on Facebook.

Manu and Evans worked together as judges on Seven’s My Kitchen Rules for 10 years, before the latter was sacked from the network.

After announcing the show would be revived with a new format, Seven CEO James Warburton promised news.com.au it would feature a “short sharp run” in an interview last year.

“It chased villains and gossip and bitchiness and all that kind of stuff. (It had) really extended dinner parties, we’d blown it up to 60 episodes so it was a massive commitment,” Warburton said of prior seasons.

“We’ve shown what we can do with The Voice so we’re confident it will work,” he added, referring to how the network outbid Channel 9 for The Voice in 2020 to produce a ratings smash-hit.

In today’s statement, original judge Feildel said of his new MKR co-host: “I’m very excited to be sitting back at the head of the MKR table and even more thrilled to have the lovely Nigella Lawson at my side.

“As MKR judges, we make the perfect team with our years of experience in professional and home kitchens respectively. And as lovers of delicious food and a fabulous dinner party, I can promise you we’re also going to have a lot of fun. Bring it on!”

Originally published as Nigella Lawson joining My Kitchen Rules on Channel 7