After asking Sonya and Hadil to leave the My Kitchen Rules dinner table in tonight’s episode, judge Manu Feildel has praised their cooking skills.
“I think they were strong competitors, yes indeed,” Manu tells TV WEEK.
“They knew how to cook very, very well. I wish they would have just zipped it and got on with the cooking.
“They didn’t have to go that far to win the competition.”
Manu believed Sonya and Hadil could’ve won the competition if they concentrated more on their food and less on the in-fights.
The NSW besties were told to leave after a fiery dinner party where they flung insults at sisters Emma and Jess.
“It was just poking the bear, basically, and it just wasn’t nice,” Manu explains.
This is the first time in the history of My Kitchen Rules that Manu and fellow judge Pete Evans have sent off a team due to their behaviour. Manu says they’ve never even come close to it before.
“It’s a show I’ve been working on for nine years now and it’s a great show to work on,” he says.
“We’ve always had a good time, a good laugh. A couple of fights here and there, but it’s never been taken that far.”
Manu says he’s had no contact with either Sonya or Hadil since the end of the show.
“Just purely because I don’t want to be involved in their story,” he adds.
“It’s not what my purpose is on the show. I’m just there to judge the food and score the dishes and get someone to work hard until they win the prize.”
He says he has no regrets about his decision.
“The only regret is I wish everyone would have acted like adults, responsible adults, and just got on with the competition. That’s the only regret.”
