When Jane signed on for MKR, little did she know she was about to become one of Australia’s most controversial ingredients.
The Blue Mountains food stylist has been well and truly roasted online, with viewers branding her a “snob” and questioning her place on the show after it emerged she had previously worked with judge Colin Fassnidge.
“Jane didn’t see this coming,” our source tells us.
“She knew she might be painted as the villain, but the backlash has been brutal. Even she’s shocked by it — and it takes a lot to shock Jane.”
So when filming wrapped, Jane decide it was time to get out of the kitchen.
According to her social media, Jane and husband Shane travelled to India in July, putting thousands of kilometres between themselves and the MKR spotlight.
“Jane knew there was going to be backlash and wanted to get out of the country, have a holiday and clear her head before facing it,” the source claims.
“She needed to get away from the pressure cooker and have some time to herself.”
Jane has since locked down her social media accounts, as the criticism continues to simmer.
And with the comments still rolling in, our source believes another escape could be on the cards.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if she packs her bags and flees again until the storm passes,” the source says.
#plategate turns up the heat
While we’re only two weeks into this season of MKR, Jane has already ruffled plenty of feathers around the table at the instant restaurants and online.
On Monday night’s episode, she caused a divide at the table when she took aim at the colourful melamine plates fellow contestants Alisha and Deanne used to serve up their courses.
When the ‘bogan best friends’ served their entree of seared scallops on the colourful plates, Jane told the rest of the contestants and the judges that she thought the choice was “problematic”.
“You can’t plate on something like that and know what you’re doing,” she said. “I think it all just gets lost… there was too much going on for me.”
Jane then told the table she would be taking the plates into consideration when coming up with her final score and they should do the same.
“But it’s a cooking competition, not a plating competition,” fellow contestant Mary shot back.
The drama continued when the Adelaide mums served up their main meal of lamb backstap on fruit-themed melamine plates.
“I think Jane is about to throw up at the sight of this plate,” joked fellow contestant Tiffany.
“Omg there’s blueberries on it,” added her partner Giancarlo.
When the camera panned to Jane she looked horrified by the plate in front of her.
“This plate to me was an absolute hot mess. In no universe does that make sense… images of fruit on a main course,” she said.
“It was like sitting at the kiddies table.”
Jane hits back at the critics
Speaking to our sister publication TV Week on Tuesday, Jane admitted that maybe reality TV “wasn’t the best place” for her.
“A tricky edit, and all the love is lost,” she said. “In hindsight, maybe I am best positioned as the third judge… the one who takes style and etiquette into consideration!”
When asked about #plategate, the food stylist said it would be “disingenuous and basically impossible” for her to overlook it.
“I made the comparison of whether you would go out into the world having made a conscious decision over the top half of your outfit and left the bottom half up to chance,” she explained.
“Both Shane and I put a lot of time and effort into aesthetics. However, we are both honestly just down-to-earth people.”
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
