Manu Feildel and Colin Fassnidge are back to search for the best home cooks in Season 14 of My Kitchen Rules.
Only the best will make it to Kitchen HQ where one team will win $100,000 and be crowned 2024 champions.
These six teams have been announced, but it isn’t clear if further teams will join the contest later.
MKR is produced by ITV Studios Australia.
Rob and Liam
Competitive Brothers – Victoria
Competitive brothers Rob and Liam love surfing, sports and winning. Their 18-month age gap has made them the best of mates, but also each other’s greatest competitor. Full of banter and effortlessly cool, they’ve been known to settle arguments with a 100-metre sprint down the street. Rob is the eldest and doesn’t let Liam forget it. He claims being a tradie makes him much tougher than his cocktailshaking younger brother. Liam is cheeky, funny and promises to keep the chat alive at the table. After nine years working in hospitality in Melbourne, Liam returned to the Mornington Peninsula a year ago to open his own bar. Rob and Liam learned to cook by helping their mother, “an absolute weapon in the kitchen”, who they still call for tips. They describe their style as “cooking with fire” with Rob a master of the grill and Liam passionate about technique and polish.
How would you describe yourself as a cook?
Rob: I’m confident and creative, always striving to improve. Pit master.
Liam: Creative, passionate but can also get stressed.
Top tips for stress-free entertaining:
Rob: Prep in advance, keep the menu simple yet delicious, enjoy the company and have lots of music and wine.
Liam: Cook outside on the BBQ or near the beach.
Simone and Viviana
Modern Italians – Queensland
Confident, passionate, edgy and honest; best friends Simone and Viviana are ready to serve their opinions and “traditional Italian with a twist” dishes on MKR. The stylish pair met three years ago when Viviana worked for Simone as a barber. Viviana now owns her own barber shop where she cuts Simone’s hair every week. Well-dressed, well-groomed and cheeky, Vespa driving Simone is a charming businessman who exudes charisma. He now owns – and works front of house – in a small Italian takeaway business selling Roman style pizza by the slice. Simone and Viviana are very open, opinionated and have no qualms speaking their minds. They are often horrified at some of the ‘Italian’ dishes they have eaten in Australia and are firm believers that pineapples have no place on pizza and cream does not belong in Carbonara! Fashion meets food when these best friends bring “good food, style and only good vibes” to the table.
How would you describe your team dynamic?
Simone: Tight knit. We trust each other and work well together, always playing to each other’s strengths. We
keep the communication flowing and support each other which makes for a great vibe in the kitchen.
Viviana: Simone is the head chef. I’m pretty much the dishy!
Why did you want to compete on MKR?
Simone: I wanted to compete on MKR to challenge myself, share my love for cooking, and see how I stack up against
other talented cooks. Plus, it’s a great opportunity to learn and grow.
Viviana: To have a once-in-a-lifetime experience with my best friend.
Ash and Cassie
Young Mums – South Australia
Friends, young-mums, self-professed “food science nerds” and dietitians, Ash and Cassie are on a two-woman mission to educate Australians on healthy eating. Ash, a former Pilates instructor, grew up presenting make believe cooking shows at home with her dad. She loves the outdoors, fishing and cooking her catch. She’s driven by health, fitness and keeping positive. Cassie, a beach-lover and author of macrobiotic cookbook Meet the Macros, loves the science behind food. She spent time growing up in Austria and wants to display her
Austrian / Filipino origins. Ready to showcase their “Mediterr-asian” food with clever, healthy ingredient substitutions, Ash and Cassie want to show Australians how tasty a healthy diet can be. They dream of expanding their businesses and growing an empire with apps, books, postpartum clinics, supplements and more.
How would you describe your personality?
Ash: Outgoing, full of energy, extremely positive (glass half full type of gal), a recovering perfectionist, high achiever, driven, empathetic and compassionate.
Cassie: I am extremely generous and thoughtful. I am a good listener and very empathetic. This is why my friends confide in me! On the flip side, I also like to be silly and have a good laugh.
What is your signature dish and what makes it so special to you?
Ash: Spanish stuffed squid. It’s special to me because I often catch the squid myself and see the entire process of farm-to-fork. Ethical consumerism is important to me when it comes to eating and cooking what I catch; not only is it more sustainable for the environment but, the squid is fresh, minimally processed and made with a whole lot of love.
Cassie: Definitely the peanut sauce. The first version of my famous peanut sauce was developed with my cousin for
our book and then I continued revising it until it was perfect.
Danny and Sonia
Brother & Sister – Queensland
Larger-than-life brother and sister Danny and Sonia are ready for a good time in and out of the kitchen! Growing up in a small rural town in far North Queensland, these siblings were raised to hunt, fish and cook. Father of two, and now a granddad, Danny is a butcher by trade. Sonia is a hard-working mum of two who owns her own cleaning business. She’s loud, passionate and resilient but also sensitive and sentimental. The siblings have endured a lot and now their bond is stronger than ever. They absorbed their homestyle cooking style and hard yakka work ethic from their Nonna and firmly believe food is home and home is where their heart is. Danny and Sonia have humble ambitions; to make enough money to be able to work less and spend more time with their families. Danny would love to open his own kebab shop too.
How would you describe yourself as a cook?
Danny: I’m not a chef but I have a go.
Sonia: I definitely cook from the heart and not from a book. I hate food waste, so I’ll often create things out of whatever I have in my freezer to use up.
What does cooking and food mean to you?
Danny: Cooking for me is entertaining and there is nothing better than seeing people smiling and having a good time.
Sonia: Every gathering I have is food or drink related. Food is love.
Hannah and Lawrence
Loved-up Couple – Western Australia
Loved-up couple Hannah and Lawrence put the sweet in sweetheart. Together for 18 months, they are flirty, smiley and inseparable. Hannah is loud, friendly, loving, outgoing and runs at 100% all the time. She kissed a few frogs before she found her prince Lawrence “everything I ever dreamed of in a partner.” Fitness fanatic Lawrence is a jack-of-all trades. Previously an engineer, the WAPPA graduate now works as a filmmaker and does plenty of odd jobs to pay the bills. Lawrence credits his Grandy in Belgium for teaching him culture, history and food, however he “felt like he won the lotto” when he met Hannah. Hannah’s cooking style runs on instinct while Lawrence measures to perfection but they both agree marriage is on the table if they win MKR.
How would you describe yourself as a cook?
Hannah: Erratic and messy but full of love! Recipes and measuring are not my thing, so there’s always a 50/50
chance my meals might fail.
Lawrence: I really like to follow a recipe and stick to measurements. I know I’m too new to use instinct. I’m full of questions, trying to catch up on lost time.
What does cooking and food mean to you?
Hannah: All my greatest memories in life have been celebrated around food. Food is love, connection and joy. Lawrence: For a long time, food and cooking didn’t mean a lot to me, it was merely a means to stay full. After meeting Hannah that all changed. I now see why food and family are so intertwined.
Mike and Pete
Fussy Friends – Western Australia
Long-time friends Mike and Pete have Italian heritage and a passion for authentic, home-style cooking. Pete promises to bring flair to the plating, while Mike’s unfiltered banter will add spice to the conversation and ruffle feathers at the table. Mike and Pete are both in long-term relationships and after decades of friendship are “more like family than friends.” Mike admits “my mouth goes faster than my brain, it can get me in trouble for sure.” Mike and Pete will be serving refined Italian classics and honouring their family traditions. The duo shares a passion for gardening, and Mike prides himself on his garden-toplate cooking. Mike dreams of turning his garden into a place where he can educate kids on sustainable food, while Pete dreams of writing a cookbook full of his family recipes.
How would you describe your personality?
Mike: Fun, warm, generous and honest. I have a great network of friends which I love and cherish. I have a positive outlook on life; even though sometimes the world doesn’t seem a happy place, I can manage to turn a negative into a positive.
Pete: Stoic but fierce when I need to be.
How would you describe yourself as a cook?
Mike: I think I have all the basic skills and a little more. I would say that I am a great home cook.
Pete: I like to try new things. I am adventurous with my cooking and like to push myself, sometimes to my own
detriment. I am pretty confident with balancing flavours but also love our traditional Italian cuisine.
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