My Kitchen Rules (2010– ) User Reviews

I like it

[susancvan · 9/10 · 14 April 2015]

I like this show.

I like pretty much any TV show that deals with food. The only "reality" shows I watch are the ones revolving around food. Why? I'm interested in food. I own a bookshelf full of cookbooks. While I find cooking shows more informative than the reality food competitions I still find them interesting because I get cooking ideas from them all. So maybe it's rigged, I like trying to figure out what I would do with x ingredient and x set of rules if I were that person. It is the same for me with Chopped, Masterchef, Top Chef, Come Dine with Me, etc.

I also like the accents and the travel aspect of the show. It tours around Australia and now also New Zealand and lets you enjoy some pretty wonderful scenery and even if it IS scripted I am sure the script is at least loosely based on their actual personal lives. Other shows are completely scripted because they are complete fiction. Do we say "I won't watch Elementary, or Backstrom, or X-Files because the whole thing is fixed?

It might not be quite as entertaining as watching Julia Child cook a chicken, but I like it and am waiting eagerly for season 6 to appear on Gusto!

Absolutely LOVE IT

[tiggiedapuss · 10/10 · 28 May 2020]

Best cooking show EVERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR bitchiness, back stabbing, delusional people, and egos , tension , and people put in their place What's not to LIKE , it should be on tv 7 days a week 365 days of the year 27/7

Best MKR without question is Aussie am addicted!

[roxmewild · 9/10 · 20 September 2018]

I am a great lover of all food shows and love the competitions and getting food tips. There have been a few MKR the UK one wasn't any good the NZ one was ok but head above shoulders the Aussie one is by far the best! Pete Evans and Manu are excellent host/judges and also Colin they have great personalities. The competition itself is always interesting from the couples instant restraint to the various interesting challenges they are set. I rate this show highly and am addicted long may it continue!

My major criticism of this show and MANY reality shows that infuriates me no end is the fact the producers feel the need to Constantly keep repeating scenes with their Coming up ...... showing you scenes 5 mins in the future then returning back 5 mins earlier and repeating what you just watched! WTF Please STOP we are Not Morons that constantly need to be encouraged to continue to view a programme we are already watching! Seriously who wants to watch the beginning jump forward to the middle and back to the beginning again! Just show it in consecutive order No forward or back flashes required!

Cooking is the real star

[kerrik-61648 · 9/10 · 14 September 2023]

I haven't watched MKR until this year. I really like Claudean, she's tough but true and real. I enjoy the different foods they're all cooking and I've learned some tricks too. Coco and Pearls were a random add-on, I was disappointed they were even on the show. I don't really care for the personal dramas between contestants but I enjoy them competing with their cooking skills.

What was their real purpose? It didn't seem to be cooking. Please make sure the contestant's dramas don't outweigh the food. I'm backing the whole entire contestants because they actually bring cooking and food to the show, afterall, it IS a cooking show.

The producers should be ashamed

[londas · 1/10 · 6 March 2019]

While I have enjoyed nearly every episode up to season 8, the last 2 seasons is all about cheap sensationalism. There are some talented contestants who deserved a place, but the focus now seems to be on arrogant, disruptive and pompous contestants who have not a shred of culinary talent, but who remain in the series solely fpr the cheap drama. MKR is rigged in the favor of maintaining controversy. The organisers and producers should be ashamed of them selves. This show has gone downhill faster that an Olympic skier.

What happenned?

[andrewrye-06535 · 4/10 · 7 February 2018]

I've watched this since it started years ago. At first there were reasonably minor dramas but the cooking was the star. As the years went on it went down hill to the point that there are dramas every night. The contestants are voting strategically and throughout the dramas the judges do.......nothing. Are they actually there when they yell and call each other names? I can only guess that the contestants are selected for drama value and b****iness. How disappointing. Every night someone threatens to leave, how did this ever become entertaining? It isn't. Get rid of the narrator for a start, his voice is aggravating and makes me cringe every time I hear him. The music started at the beginning show casing the latest music and really added to the value of the production. This season (7) it's just silly and dramatic. I love cooking shows and hold Masterchef Australia up as the level all cooking shows should aim for. Maybe the producers and writers should watch that and see why it is the top cooking show on TV right now. No dramas, no stupidity and no idiot narrators. Great way to show Australians in their natural habitat I guess. And it's a 4 from me.

2019 Series just another soap opera

[Tak005 · 1/10 · 29 January 2019]

The latest series of MKR has just started. It has again shown that it is not a show about cooking, but a cheaply made soap opera with cooking as a backdrop. Once again two of the contestants are rude and insulting prompting the others to be offended. Recycled annual scenario. Unless you're into cheap melodrama forget this show.

Reality Soap Opera

[Tak005 · 1/10 · 7 May 2018]

This show has degenerated since its inception. The show ostensibly is about contestants cooking skills being judged over several weeks and a winner named. However, now it is just the soap opera style dramatics of the interactions between the contestants.

What Next!

[londas · 1/10 · 3 February 2020]

This is a series that I had enjoyed, even ignoring the sarcasm and back-biting from some of the contestants. Now the ´producers´have changed the format that is in my opinion, a disaster. I fast forwarded through a gruelling first episode that left me wondering what the hell were they thinking. This series is nothing but a shambles of sarcastic innuendo and contestants who appear to be auditioning for the best egotistical ham actors. If this is the future of My Kitchen Rules, then I can see many viewers being greatly disappointed.

Masterchef Australia is just around the corner. I hope the new judges live up to the legacy left by.Matt, Gary and George.

Reality, not food

[dclarke-28979 · 1/10 · 3 February 2018]

This is a very disappointing series. It's not a show for foodies or wannabe cooks, but it is about the personalities. For the past two seasons, I've wondered how the judges actually selected the winners. Very subjective and disappointing.

Director and Prodocers are ruining it.

[godsie · 3/10 · 5 February 2020]

So much fake take to keep general interest at a peak but it's the complete reverse. I give it another 3 years before the public lose interest completely. Keep it simple... I guess all reality tv has a life span. The producers here are accellerating it big time.

Pete disturbed Manu jump ship

[Top1c3xot1c · 1/10 · 17 April 2017]

Paleo Pete is no doctor. Manu is no show writer, the same with my France supposedly cooking show, ever since no one said anything last week when seafood king swore at another, I can't even watch, you've created a show that's high drama and less about cooking further which is why Pete still on the show...jump ship to a great show like Masterchef 2017...

Ruined by producers

[kotkasj · 2/10 · 4 March 2020]

Unfortunately it has turned into an amateur pantomime.

Used to be a great family tv show

[godsie · 3/10 · 5 February 2020]

There's nothing more than I'd like than to watch regular tv with my wife in the evenings as opposed to splitting into separate rooms to watch Netflix. We loved this show over the years but now Netflix is slowly pulling us away. Sorry Pete and Manu, but the cooking gig is fading away.

Rigged, scripted and manipulative Reality television: Australian style.

[BlackJack_B · 2/10 · 13 August 2014]

I've always loathed reality television for many reasons but the one big gripe I have with the genre is that it's all scripted, there is no prize money (it's just a work) and the contests are pre-determined and rigged.

I live in Canada and a new channel added here called Gusto airs all the seasons of My Kitchen Rules. MKR is Australia's most popular television program and I decided to see if Australian reality television might be better than the shoddy American ones. Well, after 40 or so episodes it's a tiny bit better but it's still the same malarkey you will find elsewhere.

The only positives I can give the show are:

1. Australians are a much more laid back and easy going group of people unlike the Americans, British and Canadians. They are more tolerable to put up with on a program like this.

2. At least here in Canada, the swear words are not bleeped and they use R-rated language.

3. There is no audience of screamers until the final episode where the eliminated and the finalist's families are in "Kitchen Headquarters".

4. The people they use are real and not a bunch of actors. Tresne Middleton is actually a real estate agent, for example.

It is clear that every second of the show is scripted. Not one single amount of true emotion is shown. All reality T.V. is scripted but this show is blatant in that regard.

It's also droll how they have to call them Bree & Jessica or Helena & Vikki at all times. No changing of their title whatsoever is allowed. Why not an occasional Kelly and Chloe? Mr. Evans and Mr. Feildel must stand/sit right next to each other 95% of the time. It's clear that every moment is scripted by the producers. They just pull numbers and opinions out of their butt. I love how they constantly need to repeat the names of the dishes they are cooking, the endless talking head segments that who knows when they were filmed (before or after?) and lots of scripted events. It's never a smooth ride for these people.

I also love how the camera always captures those moments, it's always there at the right time. A good one was with the aforementioned Ms. Middleton. She was doing a lunch truck challenge and one of the guest judges (Colin Fassnidge) criticized her cooking technique. She then went over to her partner Carly Saunders to be consoled and the camera "catches" her being hugged and then giving somebody that stare. You know when a kid is upset and runs to her mother and then she looks at the person or animal that hurt her? That stare.

I love the centipede of cars for the "visits" of contestant's homes, the fake emotions of certain contestants, the forced trash talk and the constant editing. BAM BAM BAM with the visuals. I love how this show gets all those plants to show up at the end of the time limit as if they were waiting in buses or something. The school was realistic but I find it hard to believe in reality that they could find enough grown adults to show up at these lunch truck and restaurant challenges.

Of course, after season 5 all the allegations came out. I'm not surprised about the faked home visits. We don't want groupies taking pictures so all of these "homes" were in undisclosed locations and the dinners took place at 6 in the morning. The other facts (some of these contestants were trained prior to taping at a school, they were told what to cook, other chefs created meals, etc.) just takes away from the real reason I watched the show, like how many cases of food poisoning or how many blue band-aids would I see.

Anyway, I'm sure Australia will still watch in droves come Season 6. I won't. Sad thing is, I did have one more reason to watch: they have some beautiful women in that country. Oh well, the sacrifices I make...

Everything's fake

[KatooHvdW · 1/10 · 13 May 2021]

Like many others I used to like the show, but the last few seasons have gone rapidly downhill. This is not a cooking contest anymore, it's a very bad soap opera with all the required ingredients: botox- and fillerfigured actors, nastyness and twists, jealousness and sabotage, and unbelievable plots.

Every contestant wants to stand out because of their opinion or how edgy and competitive they are, not because of their cooking. They look and act like cartoon characters.

Every line seems (and probably is) scripted, the music score is dramatic and so are the camera shots of the contestants' expressions.

Even worse: this is a cooking show, but the quality of the dishes and the culinary knowledge of the contestants is diplorable.

Do NOT spend your time on this fake show.

rigged

[dOgZbOdY · 1/10 · 4 February 2020]

Wont watch this show ever again ... if you cry every episode you have a good chance of winning ...

Urgh

[hotcakes_mmm · 1/10 · 2 May 2018]

When will it end. It's been going for almost 6 months

A formula so tedious, it's almost unwatchable.

[HeroOfTomorrow · 1/10 · 17 July 2022]

In this review, I won't focus on the fact that My Kitchen Rules seems to have a strict "no charisma allowed" rule for contestants and judges. Or that the level of cooking is exactly what you'd expect from a bunch of random amateurs. What I want to focus on, is the absolutely ATROCIOUS editing and structure of the show. Once you notice this, you can't "un-notice" it.

MKR applies the same structure to EVERY. SINGLE. SCENE.

1. You see someone cooking, explaining exactly what they're doing: "I'm going to braise the red cabbage."

2. Cut to insert shot of the same person in a studio, saying "to make the cabbage, I've got to braise it."

3. Cut back to kitchen, in which the cook says "I don't know if we're going to make this on time!"

4. Cut to insert shot of the same person in a studio, saying "I really wasn't sure that I was going to make it on time."

5. Repeat for every single shot.

Once you notice this formula, the show becomes even more unwatchable than it already seemed based on its unpleasant contestants and hosts. It is hilariously, pathetically repetitive; it provides zero additional insight into the contestants; and it is literally an hour of being described over and over what you're ALREADY SEEING ON SCREEN.

Try harder.

What happened to this show???

[daniellelcrawford · 1/10 · 17 April 2023]

I've been a huge MKR fan for so long. I've seen every season and love love loved this show. I used to not even be able to stop watching it (and I'm not a huge TV person).

This season (2023) is just boring. Definitely think Pete being gone is a big factor, he was such a big part of the show. It feels weird and wrong without him.

Nigella I'm sure is a lovely person, but wow what a boring host. Even Manu looks unimpressed. I watched three episodes because I wanted to like it as much as the other seasons and I just couldn't.

Even the contestants were boring. Aside from the father and daughter team, they're hilarious and awesome. There was a joke about her replacing Manu, maybe she should, at least the show would be more entertaining.

Sorry Manu, you need Pete. Otherwise, it's just not the same.

This show is okay

[samtheautistickid · 5/10 · 14 April 2019]

Some aspects of My Kitchen Rules are really interesting. My father has made a show similar to this that he named "Our Kitchen Rules" and for the first time in 2018, I became a series judge with Lynette, one of his long-time judges. I have slowly disliked Colin over time but for the most part, this show is okay.

Tiresome but I can see it could be addictive to reality show freaks

[louispeter-23057 · 4/10 · 23 July 2021]

Shocked but not surprised that Pete Evans is a conspiracy theorist.

Behind the phony smiles is an ego centric, money hungry fool.

Pushing expensive light treatments to combat covid-9. On a par with Donald DUMPF.

Maybe Pete should be head chef at Mar-a-Lago!!!!

Great show until season 8

[tadman-47318 · 2/10 · 6 April 2023]

My wife and I live in Canada and MKR Australia was a great source of entertainment. From season 1 to 8, we rated the show at a 9/10. Some of the home cooks were outstanding culinary geniuses. It seems that the producers lost track of the real goal of this reality show after season 8. Starting with the explusion of Sonya Mefaddi and Hadil Faiza who were a disgrace, to the brother Josh and Austin who were just "plain idiots" and gave home schooled kids a bad name,to Romel and Ibby who were scoring " strategically" to Steven and Frena in season 12 who had a melt down at the table because she was called on by Alice with facial expressions and made her feel guilty (about not liking anything after they hit rock bottom in the ranking). I hope the producers fo the show go back to its root from earlier seasons. The lack of interest by viewers and the low ratings may eliminate the show from the TV show lineup and that would be a real shame .

Manu Feildel

[hortensedanny · 1/10 · 17 August 2022]

He couldn't get a job at McDonalds... why does this show have 'has been" chefs.

2019/20 Terrible

[straussrobert-01232 · 5 December 2021]

Watched the entire 2019 season and was glad who won But the arrogance & pettiness of the runner up made it a terrible season. Then the producers brought him back in 2020 which I'm glad I stopped watching after episode 2.