It was the most explosive episode of My Kitchen Rules in its nine-year history, resulting in one team – Jordanian friends Sonya Mefaddi and Hadil Sadeq – being “excused from the table.”
But while Manu Feildel claims he and fellow judge Pete Evans stepped in because they were worried “knives” might be thrown between the “volatile” contestants, sources say a string of explosive emails tell an entirely different story.
According to insiders, the emails, believed to be sent by Pete and Manu, could “blow the whole show wide open and reveal the truth about the extent of the producers’ dirty tricks once and for all.”
“If the emails got leaked, it could leave some of the top people within the show looking very bad,” says our source.
And it’s not just the emails causing concern. According to our insider, the angry contestants are at breaking point and have been holding secret meetings to discuss ways they can get revenge on the show’s producers.
“The contestants are near mutiny and are planning to do a full exposé to reveal just how bad it really is behind the scenes.”
It’s little wonder Sonya and Hadil – who’ve told friends Manu’s claims that one of them apologised to him aren’t true – have kicked off on social media, insisting the production team had it in for them long before their on-air bust-up, and even chose to edit out their cooking achievements on air.
Sonya and Hadil say they are “extremely disappointed” with their treatment on the cooking show.
“How perfect for ratings to see 2 strong women who topped the leaderboard and then went on to receive 6 dishes of the day from the judges (which were stripped from us by not being aired) and be kicked down and dragged through the mud by producers? The perfect recipe for MKR ratings!” the pair vented on their joint Instagram account.
“We’ve been extremely disappointed with our experience and treatment by the show,” they added.
“No one would have any idea what we’ve gone through. Imagine how we feel watching the episodes back when [they] have been extremely tampered with (the amount of editing is insane). We own everything we’ve said and there will never be an apology from us with regards to our behaviour as we didn’t do anything wrong. People will see this one day, when we are given a chance to speak the truth.”
WATCH: The explosive fight that led to MKR‘s biggest scandal. Post continues…
“They [producers] were saying if I didn’t do certain things, they were going to portray that differently… and they were telling me how they were going to edit it unless I played ball,” he told radio’s Kyle and Jackie O.
“Several teams were heavily pressured into answering questions by producers, who threatened teams that they wouldn’t be allowed to leave the interview room until they said a particular thing.”
This isn’t the first time the show’s contestants have reported feeling manipulated. Last year, the series’ villain Josh “Seafood King” Meeuwissen claimed he was “blackmailed” by producers.
Want more reality TV gossip? Listen to the latest episode of our podcast, Woman’s Day Uncensored!
