In another shock elimination on My Kitchen Rules, Tiffany and Giancarlo were sent home at the end of Wednesday night’s episode – with Simon scoring strategically to make sure they lost to Zoe and Zac.
“I think you’d be able to tell by my face, when the team’s collective scores were said out loud, it was very obvious to me that there was massive, no shadow of a doubt, strategic voting there,” Tiffany tells TV WEEK. “I was gutted.”
Tiffany and Giancarlo topped the first instant restaurant round with a score of 86, and were seen as one of the strongest teams in the competition.
Gatecrashers Zoe and Zac, meanwhile, received a score of 58 for their instant restaurant. So when it came to the elimination cook-off at Kitchen HQ, Tiffany and Giancarlo went in as favourites.
Despite a dessert disaster, the judges scored them one point higher than Zoe and Zac. But the other teams scored them two points lower – with the average dragged down by Simon giving them a three out of 10 and giving Zoe and Zac an eight, making it clear he wanted to get rid of Tiffany and Giancarlo.
“Would you want to verse a strong team, or would you want a guaranteed win against Zac and Zoe?” he asked.
Tiffany didn’t hear any of that at the elimination cook-off, but she felt sure there was something going on.
“I was so disappointed, really let down,” she says. “I think it’s bad sportsmanship to put a team through because, ‘Oh, I’d be able to beat them in the end. Let’s knock out the cooks that we think are actual competition as early as we can, as a strategy.’
“It’s just not what we’re about and who we are. So we were really disappointed.”
Entrepreneur Giancarlo, 41, and former flight attendant Tiffany, 37, have been a couple for nearly 20 years. Tiffany says MKR is “definitely one of the most challenging things that we’ve put our relationship through”.
“And honestly, it made us closer, when it could very easily have done the opposite,” she adds.
She says it made her realise how important it is that Giancarlo is “chill”, as well as respectful, empathetic and compassionate.
“I’ve always known that, but this competition really amplified that for me and it calmed me. Because it can all get a bit much.”
Catch My Kitchen Rules on Monday and Tuesday at 7.30pm on Channel Seven or 7plus.
