My Kitchen Rules: All-girls team kicked off the show after ‘heated off-camera altercation’ with male team
AN all-girl team has been kicked off the set of hit reality TV show My Kitchen Rules after a simmering feud with two male contestants boiled over into a heated off-camera scuffle.
NSW
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AN all-girl team has been kicked off the set of hit reality TV show My Kitchen Rules after a simmering feud with two male contestants boiled over into a heated off-camera scuffle.
Production on the show was temporarily shut down while Channel Seven investigated the altercation in which sources said the contestants “crossed a line”.
It is understood the two teams became embroiled in an off-camera scuffle at a hotel in Launceston after a day of filming last month.
The two teams — one all-female team from NSW the other two men — faced off in front of shocked hotel guests and two other MKR teams.
It is understood the argument erupted in the hotel hallway after one contestant claims to have overheard another making disparaging remarks about a child with special needs.
Witnesses say the two teams, who allegedly clashed ‘from day one’ according to show insiders, had already engaged in several on-air confrontations.
“The women were walking past the room that the guys were in ... and they said they overheard someone inside saying something particularly insensitive about a young boy.
“The woman then started banging on the door and went them.”
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It is understood the men were in their room cooking dinner with other contestants from the show. Witnesses say when the men opened the door there was pushing and shoving. One of the contestants accused another of spitting during the altercation.
“Meetings were held almost immediately in Tasmania and again once the cast and crew returned to Sydney,” the source said.
“The decision was then made that one of the contestants in question had most certainly crossed a line.
“That that behaviour was well beyond the limits of what is deemed acceptable.”
For the first time since the top-rated show first aired back in 2010, network bosses made the executive decision to dump the women from the line-up mid-season. Production will proceed with seven teams instead of eight, with the men to stay on for the duration of filming.
It is understood all teams will appear in the first few episodes of the show but the one team will be removed on air. Some fiery exchanges at the dinner table will be included in the show.
A spokeswoman for Channel Seven confirmed “an incident” took place and that one team had been dropped as a result.
“Someone crossed a line that shouldn’t be crossed,” said Seven’s head of publicity Susan Wood, who declined to reveal further details.
One onset source has confirmed the tasteless incident had raised questions within the network about how much conflict is too much.
Since it started MKR has been a hotbed of hostility, with teams encouraged by producers to critique their rivals personalities, appearances and mannerisms as much as their cooking.
“When you consider how much the teams clash on camera it was only a matter of time before something like this spilt over into real life,” the MKR insider said.
Producers of MKR, which is a massive money-spinner for the network, were forced to advise many of the show’s commercial partners of the incident so that they “don’t get a shock” when it airs next year.
The show maintains several multimillion-dollar partnerships with major sponsors including Renault Australia, which recently signed on as the official automotive sponsor providing vehicles for the contestants and judges.
However, it is understood that no advertisers have pulled their support.
The new season of the show will go to air on January 29, with footage of the two axed contestants to remain until their sacking, which occurs four weeks into the season.