Where My Kitchen Rules’ Sonya Mefaddi and Hadil Faiza are now
TV villains Sonya and Hadil were “excused” and removed from MKR. Now, as the grand final has aired, this is what they’re up to.
CONTROVERSIAL cooks Sonya Mefaddi and Hadil Faiza were unceremoniously “excused from the table” by My Kitchen Rules judge Manu Feildel.
It was an unprecented move for the show. They started the much-hyped ‘MKR scandal’. They lashed out at other contestants across the table during a dinner party at the home of grand finalists Kim and Suong.
They told their rivals repeatedly that they’d “come for them”. Sonya even went as far to say they were “all disrepectful a**holes”. They were then removed from the show — and never returned.
Now, as the grand final of Channel Seven’s hit reality TV series aired, the pair who represented NSW, appear to be further apart.
Their joint Instagram account was removed around April 23, and followers were told: “This account will be shut down shortly’ and instructed fans to follow their solo profile pages.”
Two days later, Sonya posted photos on her personal Instagram account from an island getaway she’s been on in Bali.
She has been staying at a resort in the popular tourist hotspot of Ubud.
One of her close friends who appeared in photos with her is Johanna Chow Chuen, a French model who is engaged to marry former international rugby union player and Australian NRL player Craig Wing.
Wing previously represented Japan in rugby union and played for the NSW Blues in State of Origin. He also played for the Sydney Roosters, South Sydney Rabbitohs.
In one post (below) she said: “Just over two months until I stand by your side on your big day! THANK YOU for being such a wonderful friend @johannacc.”
She is also seen enjoying island life, taking in days by the pool and heading out to local eateries.
But while she’s been away, she hasn’t given up her passion for cooking.
She has also just launched a new online cooking series today, with her first episode airing on Instagram and YouTube.
She shows followers how to cook Falafel prawns with lemon tahini. She doesn’t appear on camera in the video though, as viewers watch her make the dish step-by-step with ancient Egyptian music in the background.
Tonight, she also posted on Instagram: “Never lose sight of your goals and be the creator of your own destiny. Work for the things that you want until they become your reality X”
Her former teammate, Hadil, has been busy living and working in far north Queensland on Cairn’s northern beaches as a make-up artist and beauty therapist.
Her Instagram handle, titled @hadil.mkr, shows she is still happy to identify herself with the reality show, despite being removed with Sonya for their behaviour, which Feildel described as “unacceptable”.
She has also maintained her confidence, with posts where she talks about being “confident” and “sexy”. In one post, she quotes Nelson Mandela, saying: “Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell and got back up again.”
In another one just days ago, she is seen posing naked, saying: “I love nature and being in the wilderness, we should embrace what mother nature has given to us, we shouldn’t take it for granted. The best thing about the rainforest is no one’s around so who cares when you forget your swimmers.”
She continues to tag her photos, including throwback ones to dishes she made with Sonya on the show with hashtags including #mkr, #mykitchenrules and #cancook.
Hadil also revealed a dish she and Sonya were planning to cook on MKR before they were removed from the competition.
She wrote: “Mansaf. The national dish of Jordan ... So many people sent us private messages asking if you were going to make mansaf. The answer is yes we were saving it for ultimates. This dish is the definition of what the Jordanian food coma is all about. Slow cooked lamb with rice and a fermented yougurt sauce.”
After the remaining MKR teams were told of Sonya and Hadil being removed from the show, Sonya claimed they were used for ratings. She told News Corp they were “going up against Married at First Sight”.
She also denied that she got physical during an off-camera altercation with rival teams while they were filming the show in Tasmania, but refused to comment on Hadil’s actions.
Kyle and Jackie O asked Sonya: “Who was involved in the physical thing?”
“Look, I think Hadil’s the one to answer that,” Sonya said.
When Jackie O asked again if something physical happened, Sonya carefully answered, “I can tell you that I was not physical.”
Sonya also took to Instagram and Facebook to claim that there was another reason why she reacted at the table the way she did.
In her lengthy explanation, she told fans she would try and explain it without breaking her contract with Channel Seven.
In referring to being in the “MKR bubble”, she claimed that she was subjected to insults ‘ugly fat b***h’ and ‘dumb c***’ while filming.
They took her back to her childhood, where she was regularly bullied for her race and weight.
“One memory in particular which I’ll never forget was having the contents of my school bag tipped into a bin because of my background. I remember feeling shocked and angry and also feeling so hurt. Fast forward to the 21st century and who would have thought taking part in a cooking competition would bring back all those cruel, hurtful and extremely upsetting words online?,” she said.
In hearing the insults during filming MKR, she claimed: “Those words struck a chord with me and really hurt which clearly showed.
“It’s been hard to apologise for that reason because it was a two way argument with name calling started by others. Did I handle that moment the best? No.”
She also suggested that editing of the show played a part in her negative portrayal. She wrote: “It’s been a really tough road seeing myself being portrayed in such a horrible light.”
She went on to say sorry for what viewers saw.
Hadil also posted on Instagram, saying her heart was broken by the aftermath of the drama.
“My heart is broken. The person shown on TV is not representative of the person I am and the person I strive to be. I love this country with a passion and am so sorry to have disappointed so many of you,” she said.
“The cyber bullying and personal attacks on me have really taken a toll. I would like to step back and focus on my family and my two beautiful son’s (sic) who deserve a happy mother.”
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