The Rundown: Nigella can’t stop MKR ratings dive; Sophie Cachia’s ad standards row

Lingering shots of UK food queen Nigella Lawson eating haven’t saved MKR as it dives in the ratings after just one night.

Will lingering shots of Nigella Lawson putting things in her mouth be enough to save Channel 7’s reboot of My Kitchen Rules?

Seeing as Lawson is appearing in fewer than half of the episodes in the series, the answer is probably not.

MKR launched on Sunday to 503,000 overnight metro viewers. But by Monday had dropped to 408,000 overnight metro viewers, a plunge of 95,000 viewers from its launch audience.

However, Seven seems to have a pretty good idea of what they think viewers want to see from the sultry UK foodie queen.

They apparently want to see her digging in, be that a slurpy spoonful of relish, gnawing meat from a quail leg or masticating a poached pear.

There is a definite focus on Lawson’s tactile approach to eating in this series — Nigella really does bite into this show.

A count of the close-ups of the judges and their consumption of the meals in the first two episodes bears this out.

Nigella Lawson was brought in as a special guest judge on MKR with Manu Feildel to help reboot the show.

In episode one Lawson is seen delightedly downing a spoonful of homemade relish, finishing off by licking her hand, in the contestant’s kitchen.

At entree there were five clips of Lawson’s co-host Manu Feildel eating croquettes compared to Lawson’s three.

But Lawson takes the attention when the main course of lamb cutlets arrives.

While there is one close-up of Feildel eating a forkful of lamb, Lawson’s carnivorous delight is captured in three clips; in particular one where she wrestles the meat off the cutlet bone and another where she is seen chewing on the stripped bare bone.

The failed lemon delicious dessert sees Feildel get two close-ups eating the uncooked pudding and Lawson just the one.

Come episode two, the camera loves Lawson devouring her Barramundi entree, with three close-ups of her shovelling the delicious fish into her mouth compared to one forkful for Feildel.

Lawson tucks into some quail.

Lawson puts decorum to one side and goes hands on for the quail main, resulting in two close-ups of her crunching down on the bone and working the meat free. A third has her pinching a Jerusalem artichoke from Feildel’s plate.

Feildel’s eating of the quail is not so theatrical. He gets two close-ups.

The tart that closes out the meal in episode two sees both Lawson and Feildel get two fork to mouth moments each.

So by the end of episode two, it is quite clear that Lawson’s effusive, tactile and at times physical approach to eating is being savoured by the camera more so than Feildel’s serious chef approach to the meals.

Unfortunately her passion for the plate is not being appreciated to its fullest by viewers at this stage.

Gelmi’s Games vanishing act

Channel 7’s co-host of its evening coverage of the Commonwealth Games, Abbey Gelmi, disappeared for the last four days of the event.

Gelmi was absent from Friday night’s broadcast, did not appear on Saturday night, was still missing on Sunday and did not return for Monday night’s coverage nor the Games Closing Ceremony early on Tuesday morning.

Abbey Gelmi missed hosting duties for the last four days of the Commonwealth Games.

Gelmi apparently took ill on Friday and had to keep abreast of the action on Channel 7 from her couch at home.

Her co-host Hamish McLachlan soldiered on in her absence without missing a beat and was joined on occasions over the four nights by Annie Williams.

Gelmi did pass a message on to McLachlan to tell 1500m gold medallist Oliver Hoare that she needed his mobile number as her grandfather, middle distance running great, Herb Elliott, wanted to give him a call to congratulate him on his superb victory.

Survivor tests a beauty queen

Former Miss World Australia Sarah Marschke is about to go from beauty queen to reality star.

Marschke is understood to be one of the celebrities shipped off to the South Pacific to test herself to the limit on Australian Survivor.

It is a great opportunity for Marschke and she shouldn’t be underestimated.

While Marschke is known as a beauty queen, she is also an accomplished athlete having showed talent in women’s rugby league when she was younger and at one stage having aspirations to play AFLW.

Australian Survivor, which is being filmed in Samoa, has a heroes and villains theme this year.

Former Miss World Australia Sarah Marschke shouldn’t be underestimated on Survivor. Picture: Justin Lloyd

Sam Pang lawyers up

TV and radio funnyman Sam Pang has described the difference between his two shows, Have You Been Paying Attention and The Front Bar, saying one is live and the other is recorded in a studio filled with lawyers.

Pang, speaking at the 3AW Rumours Feast at the Regent Plaza Ballroom on Friday, mused on the two very successful shows, The Front Bar on Channel 7 and Have You Been Paying Attention on Channel 10, that he is a part of.

“Have You Been Paying Attention is recorded on Sunday and goes to air on Monday,” he said.

“The Front Bar (which is filmed live) is great. The old saying is you don’t ask permission and apologise later and when it is live you can do that and with Have You Been Paying Attention we do everything we can on Sunday. There is a lot of lawyers there on a Sunday.”

Cach-ing the attention of ad standards

Another Instagram post by super influencer Sophie Cachia has been called out by the advertising watchdog.

The post for Paradise Resort on the Gold Coast was deemed to have breached section 2.7 of the Australian Association of National Advertisers which states advertising or marketing communication shall be clearly distinguishable, following an investigation by the Ad Standards Community Panel.

Cachia had previously stayed at the resort as a paying guest and was invited back to the property as part of a collaboration.

The post, made on June 25, 2022, read: “5 years later & she’s back! (sun emoji) Mummy and minis winter getaway to kids heaven @paradiseresortgc — thanks for inviting us back! X #invited.”

Influencer Sophie Cachia’s posts have fallen foul of the advertising watchdog. Picture: Sarah Matray

The complaint about the post claimed Cachia did not clearly identify it was an advertisement for the property.

“It was deceptive. I was unsure if the post was actually an ad. The tag invited was used but that is misleading as it doesn’t indicate if the accommodation was provided at a discount or for free, or if payment was received in exchange for the post on Instagram,” the complaint read.

The resort responded to the Ad Standards inquiry explaining Cachia had stayed at the resort on multiple occasions as a paying guest and had been invited back in mid 2022 to “collaborate and share her honest opinion of our renovations and our current package.”

The Ad Standards panel noted that while there was no direct requirement for Cachia to post about the gift, it was reasonable to assume that the motivation for an advertiser to provide anything for free to an influencer was that they would post about it and draw the attention of their followers to the brand.

The fact that the post was updated to include the hashtag #collab after the resort was notified of the complaint to Ad Standards made the panel believe the resort did have a degree of control over the post.

“For these reasons, the Panel considered that the Instagram stories did meet the definition of advertising in the Code,” the Ad Standards case report read.

“In the Panel’s view the advertisement was not clearly distinguishable as such and did breach Section 2.7 of the Code.”

The complaint was upheld.

MAFS couples implode as filming gets under way

As two Married At First Sight couples implode, filming is a matter of days away from starting on the new season of the top rating, drama-filled reality dating show.

Jackson Leonie and Olivia Frazer confirmed on Monday they had split.

The pair put a joint statement on Instagram which read: “After a wonderful 10 months together we have decided to go our separate ways. There has always been a lot of love in our relationship and there will continue to be as we transition into a friendship.

“We have nothing but love and respect for one another, and no one is to blame for the end of this relationship.”

Daniel Holmes announced he and Carolina Santos had also ended their relationship.

“I think it’s been obvious for a while we have gone our separate ways,” he posted on social media.

“There’s no right way to deal with these situations. I wish Carolina all the best and I know she feels the same for me. We had a very unique experience together full of every emotion possible but life just has a different plan for us.”

Meanwhile, casting is all but complete and filming of the new season will start this month.