MKR brawl all part of Seven’s plan?

IT’S bit rich for viewers and MKR hosts to take the high moral ground about last night’s brawling. It hasn’t been a cooking show for years, writes Colin Vickery. And it was no accident it aired against The Voice.

WHAT did you expect?

That is my response to the My Kitchen Rules judges, as well as viewers, about the bad behaviour that led to Sonya and Hadil getting booted off Wednesday night.

The best friends, from New South Wales, can now lay claim to being the first team to ever be ejected from the Channel 7 reality show.

The surprise is that it has taken nine seasons for a team to be sent packing because bad behaviour has been one of the keys to My Kitchen Rules’ ratings success.

A season high 2.4 million viewers tuned in to see Sonya and Hadil call the other teams sitting around the table at Kim and Suong’s home dinner party “disrespectful arseholes”.

Sonya and Hadil had threatened rivals that “we’ll come for you” and criticised Jess and Emma’s appearance, labelling Emma “a blowfish”.

I almost choked with laughter when judge Manu Feildel finally arced up saying “Enough. Things have got too out of hand. This is a cooking competition and this behaviour is unacceptable.”

Feildel, of all people, would have to be aware that it has been years since My Kitchen Rules has been a cooking competition.

I reckon the first two seasons featured some contestants who had genuine food dreams — maybe opening a cafe or creating a line of sauces.

Emma was called a “blowfish” by her Sonya and Hadil on last night’s much-hyped episode of My Kitchen Rules.

But those times are long gone as the show morphed into a controversy-baiting slagfest that would make the cast of The Real Housewives of Melbourne blush.

Surely by now everyone realises that the makers of My Kitchen Rules pick “characters” over “cooks”.

Remember last year’s self-appointed “Seafood King” Josh Meeuwissen who spent more time berating wife Amy and baiting rival teams than plating up decent food?

The producers reportedly paid for one contestant to get cooking lessons because they wanted him on the show so badly.

Any and every disagreement became fodder for juiced-up on-air promotions banging on about some new “scandal”.

By my reckoning, Seven has promoted Wednesday’s night’s eviction of Sonya and Hadil for nearly six months.

And I don’t think it is a coincidence that the Sonya and Hadil firestorm just happens to have fallen in the week that Seven’s bitter rival Nine launched The Voice.

It is easy to label judges Feildel and Pete Evans hypocrites for suddenly finding a conscience and drawing a line in the sand.

But viewers have to take some blame too. They are also complicit because they have been lapping up the constant bickering and backstabbing for season after season.

It is a bit rich for long-time fans to suddenly complain about My Kitchen Rules showing “disgusting behaviour”, “harassment” and “bullying”.

Those type of antics have been the show’s bread and butter for years. It’s too late now to have a #metoo moment.

Seven is already hinting that viewers might not have seen the last of Sonya and Hadil. Maybe the pair’s time in the sin bin is temporary.

You can see the way the story could unfold. A chastened Sonya and Hadil see the error of their ways. They apologise to Evans and Feildel and rival teams and are allowed back on the show.

Seven is saying that the pair’s future “will be resolved” this Sunday. You can pretty much guarantee another 2 million-plus for that episode.

You know you’ll be watching.

Colin Vickery is a Herald Sun TV writer.

@Colvick

Originally published as MKR brawl all part of Seven’s plan?