Source : PERTHNOW NEWS
This year’s My Kitchen Rules contestants had better start getting creative. Because, if long-time judge Manu Feildel is forced to endure yet another of the show’s well-trodden recipes and munch his way through one more panna cotta, well — he doesn’t know what he might do.
“It’s like, with all the ideas you can get from the internet these days, from Instagram and TikTok, why keep serving us the same things year after year?” he laughs.
“This year, we have some of those people, but thankfully we have some more creative ones, too — there’s a balance of good and bad, which is a good thing.”
If this year’s trailers are anything to go by, viewers are in for a wild ride.
We’ve already seen teasers about fifth-generation funeral director Angus and his mate Simon, whose instant restaurant is hilariously called Last Orders. “The only thing we’re burning is the competition,” they joke in the clip.
Then there’s self-confessed “classy bogans” Alisha and Deanne, who claim they’re “chaotic, loud, in-your-face, funny and quick-witted — (with) absolutely no filter.”
What could possibly go wrong?
“We’ve definitely got a good bunch this year,” says Feildel, who is returning to judge this year’s competition alongside good mate and co-host Colin Fassnidge.
It’s Feildel’s 16th year at the helm.
“Some are a little bit full-on — which you are going to find out about soon — but if that entertains people around the table, that’s a good thing for everyone,” he says.
Fifteen seasons after it first burst on to screens, MKR remains one of Australia’s most-watched and best-loved reality series, uncovering a host of great home cooks every year.
Many of this year’s contestants have aspirations to take their culinary journeys further post-show, and Feildel and Fassnidge are looking forward to seeing what talent they can unearth, and whose careers they can help kickstart.
The pair have been working beside one another as judges on the cooking series since 2023. They also film a cooking and travel series show, Off The Grid With Colin And Manu, which starts production on its third season in November.
Their stacked schedules mean they spend well over half the year working with one another, “and we really are like an old married couple”, Feildel laughs, admitting he feels as though sometimes he sees more of his co-star than he does his wife, Better Homes And Gardens star Clarissa Feildel.
“I’m lucky, because we do get on,” he says.
“We are very, very good mates, and the more time we spend together, the closer we are getting.”
The third series of their travel show will see them packing their bags for New Zealand once more
“They loved it so much there, that they’ve begged us to do one more,” Feildel explains.
“Obviously I’d been to New Zealand before this, for work and on family holidays, but driving from top to bottom of both islands by car, you see so much more, and you discover so much more.
“The produce over there is absolutely outstanding, and the people are brilliant as well — we are welcomed everywhere we go.”
As well as being extremely well travelled across the Tasman, Fassnidge and Feildel are also experts on their own country, and this season of MKR sees them jetting off to Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Perth for the show’s Instant Restaurant rounds.
“I really do think I’ve seen more of the country than anyone else in Australia,” Feildel jokes.
When at home in Sydney, life remains busy and hectic for the Feildel family — this month saw the launch of a joint cookbook by the couple.
“It’s called Butter And Spice, and it has three parts: His, Hers, and Ours.
“It’s a little bit of our travels, and what we cook at home from European styles and Asian styles.
“Then there is a mixture of both at the end of the book — recipes that we basically put together of the two different styles of cooking.”
So was it a challenge working beside his partner?
“Writing a cookbook is hard enough, but when you have different cuisines (to include) it gets more complicated,” Feildel explains.
“You have to do a lot more tries of everything, so there was a lot more cooking happening and a lot of leftovers for the kids to have when we were doing it all, over Christmas.”
While juggling all this, Feildel was also at the helm of his restaurant, Bistro Red Lion by Manu, in Sydney’s Rozelle.
And to think — all this was kickstarted, in part, by his association with MKR.
Does he feel like the show has changed his life?
“Oh, my God. I don’t know, it’s hard to reply to this,” he says.
“It’s an incredible life.
“And also a lot to juggle at the same time — multiple jobs, travels, kids, family.
“Juggling so much is extremely difficult, but at the same time it’s absolutely amazing.”
And if MKR comes calling again next year, he’ll do it all over again.
“Every year I am happy to sign again if that is what happens,” he says.
“But, I am also aware that it might not happen one year, and I just have to get ready for that.
“I’m in my 50s, so I’m happy to start slowing down a bit.
“My wife doesn’t see that happening any time soon!”
