The curse of MKR

The pressures of success prove too much for last year’s winning pair.

The close bond between My Kitchen Rules stars Leigh Sexton and Jennifer “Princess” Evans helped them win the series. But 12 months on, it’s a very different story. “I don’t often talk about the hurt I felt after the show,” Leigh tells Woman’s Day exclusively. “It’s like Jennifer just disappeared and wiped her hands clean of our friendship.”

According to Leigh, when filming wrapped, Jennifer moved to Sydney and things went downhill fast. “I’d send her ‘Hello, how are you?’ texts or an email and nothing would come back to me, and it’s really sad,” says Leigh. “I know she was having a baby, there was a lot going on, but there are a lot of women having babies, your life doesn’t stop. I was always very confused as to why she wouldn’t get back to me.”

The allegations come as a shock to Jennifer. “I never said anything bad about her, I’ve never done anything bad,” she says. “She didn’t even make an effort to try to talk to me. I never wiped my hands of the friendship; I just don’t understand why she would say that.” Despite the growing distance between the pair, when Jennifer gave birth to her baby boy, Harlow, last July, Leigh couldn’t have been happier.

“Wayne [Jennifer’s husband] sent us photos of the baby and it was really lovely. But Anthony [Leigh’s husband] and I didn’t hear from Jennifer, and I heard that she was writing to other contestants.” But Jennifer insists she’s been too busy to be in touch with anyone. “I’ve been going back to Thailand quite a bit, because of Jennifer’s Kitchen [her foodie company and website] and I’ve got a little baby, and we don’t have family here. Harlow has been quite sick, he was in hospital in Thailand, and to hear that, it just really hurts my feelings.”