While most people might assume that taking part in a reality cooking competition could pack on the kilos, for ex-Army corporal Kaylene McNee, the opposite was true. Both she and her sister Kerry shed weight during production.
“Kerry and I lost a lot of weight,” the 29-year-old says. “I lost seven kilos from the stress and not eating properly. I ate small meals here and there, but nowhere near enough.
“When I went on the show I was at a stable, healthy weight, but the stress of filming made me under-eat.”
This season of MKR: The Rivals sees all the contestants living under one roof, a change that affected Kaylene’s mental health.
“My anxiety got really bad during filming,” she says. “I got very negative and I know when I’m starting to go down that path.”
Kaylene’s anxiety can be traced back to her time in the army.
“I’ve been diagnosed with severe anxiety and that’s all from my past in the military,” she admits. “I did a three-month stint in rehab to help me understand and deal with it, but when it comes, I can tell.”
Kaylene and Kerry both lost weight on the show.
(Image: TV WEEK)The constant pressures of filming proved to be a suffocating trigger that sent Kaylene into a spiral.
“The only way you could get away from everyone was in your bedroom, which wasn’t great,” she says. “It wasn’t an environment I’d normally put myself in.
“You don’t know who to trust; you can’t even just talk to someone, because you don’t know their intentions.”
The constant pressure sent Kaylene into a spiral.
(Source: Seven Network)This season of MKR has been full of strategic moves, and despite being on Team Colin, cracks are beginning to show in Kaylene’s team.
Outspoken contestants Mark and Lauren are keen to do whatever they can to get to the top, but fellow team members were put off by the brazen way they wanted to play the game.
“Eventually, we came together as a house and worked things out,” Kaylene explains. “Because if we hadn’t, there would have been big problems.”
Kaylene and Kerry don’t know who to trust on MKR.
(Source: Instagram)WATCH: The explosive moment Victor walked off the set of MKR
