My Kitchen Rules

For the upcoming fifth series, see My Kitchen Rules (series 5).

My Kitchen Rules
Genre	Cooking
Format	Competition
Directed by	Mark Adamson (Series 1-3) Nick Davies (Series 4-)
Judges	Pete Evans Manu Feildel
Narrated by	Septimus Caton
Opening theme	"Tik Tok" by Kesha (Series 1-3) "Best Night" by Justice Crew (Series 4-)
Ending theme	"The Pink Panther" by Christophe Beck (Series 1-3)
Composer(s)	Jay Stewart
Country of origin	Australia
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	4
No. of episodes	132
Production
Executive producer(s)	Rikkie Proost
Producer(s)	Matt Apps Greg Swanborough Evan Wilkes
Location(s)	121–129 Crown Street Darlinghurst, New South Wales (Kitchen Headquarters)
Cinematography	Tim Hawkins
Running time	50–60 minutes per episode
Broadcast
Original channel	Seven Network
Picture format	576i (SDTV)
Audio format	Stereo
Original run	1 February 2010 – present
Chronology
Related shows	My Restaurant Rules
External links
Website

My Kitchen Rules is an Australian competitive cooking game show broadcast on the Seven Network since 2010. The series is produced by the team who created the Seven reality show My Restaurant Rules, and was put into production based on the success of Network Ten's MasterChef Australia. My Kitchen Rules has just been renewed by the Seven Network for a fifth series.

Format

Contestants

The Australian show initially had teams of two contestants with pre-existing relationships—from New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, and Western Australia—competing against each other to "transform an ordinary home into an instant restaurant complete with theme and table decorations for one pressure-cooker night." From 2011, the number of competitors grew as teams from Tasmania joined the show. A team from New Zealand took part only in the third series. In the fourth series, there were fifteen teams made up of two teams from each state, plus three additional teams—the gatecrashers—from New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia.

Number of teams participated per series

State/Territory/Country	Series
	1	2	3	4	5
New South Wales	2			3
Queensland	2
South Australia	2
Victoria	2			3
Western Australia	2			3
Tasmania		2	1	2
Northern Territory
New Zealand			1
Total	10	12	12	15	—

Judging panel

The current judging panel consists of celebrity chefs Pete Evans and Manu Feildel, with guest judges to give critic in Sudden Death cook-offs, namely: Liz Egan, Colin Fassnidge, Guy Grossi, and Karen Martini.

Judges	Series
	1	2	3	4
Current
Pete Evans	Main
Manu Feildel	Main
Karen Martini	Guest
Guy Grossi	Guest
Liz Egan		Guest
Colin Fassnidge				Guest
Former
Tobie Puttock	Guest
Jacqui Gowan	Guest

Original format

Applicable only during the first series, the show followed a sudden death format—where two teams will cook a three-course meal and the losing team of the will immediately eliminated from winning the competition.

• Initially, participating teams were split into two groups of five to compete in a separate round of instant restaurant.
• A team who placed last (fifth place) in each instant restaurant group will be eliminated from the competition. However, teams who placed third and fourth will compete in a cook-off, and the two lowest scoring teams will be eliminated.
• After the cook-off, the remaining six teams competed in quarterfinal of three rounds, wherein:
  • #2 teams in both instant restaurant groups competed in first quarterfinal round;
  • #1 team in the first instant restaurant and #1 team in cook-off competed in second quarterfinal round; and
  • #1 team in the second instant restaurant and #2 team in cook-off contended in last quarterfinal round.
• Losing teams of each quarterfinal rounds were immediately eliminated. However, the overall highest scoring team in quarterfinals advanced straight through the grand final. The remaining two teams contended in a semifinal, the last berth to the finale round.

Current format

Instant restaurant round

Grouped into two, the teams initially are to compete in an instant restaurant round. Each episode focuses on one team's day of cooking, setting up their instant restaurant and serving a three-course dinner—entrée, main, and dessert—for the judges and their opposing teams. Teams could only start cooking three hours before the other teams and judges arrive at their house. After the team served all three meals to the judges and their opposition, each opposing team must rate the total meal out of ten, then each main judge must rate each of the three courses separately out of ten. The lowest scoring team will be then at risk of elimination.

Contestants do not necessarily cook in their own homes, for example in third series, eight of the twelve couples did not use their own kitchens mainly due to their homes being too small to accommodate the production.

Team progress and eliminations:

There were variations on format in team progress and elimination process in this round.

• During the first series of the show, the lowest scoring teams (fifth place) of each instant restaurant round were eliminated immediately from the competition. Meanwhile, top two scoring teams on both rounds advanced through to quarterfinals round. Teams placing third and fourth on both instant restaurant rounds have to compete in a Kitchen Cook-off, where two losing teams will be eliminated and the other two will proceed through to quarterfinals.

• On the second series, the lowest scoring teams of each instant restaurant round competed in a Sudden Death cook-off, wherein the losing team was eliminated from the competition. The remaining teams advanced to the People's Choice Challenge—a new competition format replacing quarterfinals round.

• During the third series, the three lowest scoring teams of each instant restaurant round competed in yet another instant restaurant, thus having three rounds for this season. The losing team of the third instant restaurant was eliminated from the competition.

• The fourth series introduced extraordinary twists. Initially, there were two rounds of instant restaurant with six teams each, wherein the lowest scoring team of each group was eliminated immediately from the competition. However, after the second round, the tally of the instant restaurant scores for both groups were combined and the three lowest scorers out of the remaining ten teams competed in another instant restaurant round with new set of teams—the gatecrashers. Certainly, losing team of the third instant restaurant has to be eliminated from the competition.

Pre-finals round

After the instant restaurant, the remaining teams compete in a four-round format which was introduced in 2011 series.

• People's Choice Challenge – During this offsite challenge, teams would all have an hour and a half to prepare their dish relevant to a theme or event. The team with the most number of guest votes (sometimes, the best-selling dish if all are tasked to sell their meal) is declared as the People's Choice and will be safe for the rest of the round. A team with the worst dish will be chosen by the judges and will proceed straight through the Sudden Death round. The remaining teams will then battle for Rapid Cook-off.
• Rapid Cook-off – Held in the Kitchen Headquarters, teams are challenged to create a dish using a key ingredient in 30 minutes. All teams will be reviewed by the judges with certain number of teams who will be safe from elimination, and who will be competing in a following showdown.
• Showdown – Teams with the worst dishes during rapid cook-off compete in this round by cooking a meal using a core ingredient in 60 minutes. A team with the worst dish, again, will be chosen by the judges and will proceed straight through the Sudden Death round.
• Sudden Death – Two losing teams from People's Choice Challenge and Showdown will battle it out producing a three-course meal for Pete and Manu, as well as for the four guest judges. Both teams must prepare their dishes for a total of three hours—90 minutes prior to serving entrée, 60 minutes for main course, and 30 minutes for the dessert. Each judge will score the total meal out of ten and the lowest scoring team will be eliminated from the competition. However, fourth series introduced "blind tastings", where all the guest judges will criticise the dish without knowing who cooked it.

Finals round

Finals round consists of three rounds: two sets of semifinals, and a grand final. All follow a sudden death cook-off format where in teams will produce a three-course meal for the main judges and for the four guest judges. Teams will be scored their total meal out of ten by the judges and the lower scoring team will be eliminated.

Semifinals

Prior to grand final round, four remaining teams compete in a semifinal round. Teams going head-to-head in this round is determined variously in different series.

• In 2011 series, there were four knives on a table, two of which have Semifinal 1 label and the other two have Semifinal 2 on the blade. The labels were covered, leaving the knife handle visible. Each team are asked to select which knife. Teams who picked Semifinal 1 knife competed on the first semifinal, while teams who chose Semifinal 2 contended in second semifinal.
• In 2012 series, teams competed in a seeding round. Teams competed in two challenges, and their dish on each challenge was scored out of ten by the judges. The highest scoring team (#1) of the seeding round cooked against the lowest scoring team (#4) in first semifinal, while #2 and #3 teams competed in second semifinal.

Grand final

Winners of each semifinal will go straight through the grand final round, the last stage of the competition. Each team will be scored and the higher scoring team will be declared the My Kitchen Rules champions.

Series details

To date, four series have been broadcast, as summarised below.

Colour key:

     – New South Wales

     – Queensland

     – South Australia

     – Tasmania

     – Victoria

     – Western Australia

     – New Zealand

Series	Premiere date	Finale date	Number of teams	Winners	Runners-up	Other teams (in order of elimination)	Judges	Guest judges
One	1 February 2010	22 March 2010	10	Veronica and Shadi Abraham	Clint Yudelman and Noah Rose	Marc & Natalie (WA1), Deb & Ben (NSW2), Matt & Melissa (SA2), Rowan & Sophia (VIC2), Holly & Grace (WA2), Paul & Mel (SA1), Tanja & Gen (QLD1), Mossy & Gabe (NSW1)	Pete Evans Manu Feildel	Jacqui Gowan Guy Grossi Karen Martini Tobie Puttock
Two	31 January 2011	13 April 2011	12	Sammy and Bella Jakubiak	Kane Lillywhite and Lee Chan	Kerry & Holly (WA2), Donna & Reade (SA1), Mal & Bec (QLD2), Artie & Johnnie (QLD1), Mel & James (TAS1), Kelly & Ash (VIC2) (quit), Esther & Ali (TAS2), Bill & Alex (NSW2), Daniela & Stefania (WA1), Anne-Marie & Nick (SA2)		Liz Egan Guy Grossi Karen Martini Tobie Puttock
Three	30 January 2012	27 March 2012	12	Leigh Sexton and Jennifer Evans	Nic Mazzone and Rocco La Bella	Emma & Andrew (WA2), Sam & Jillian (NSW2), Peter & Gary (QLD2), Thomas & Carla (VIC1), Simon & Meg (NZ), Angela & Justine (WA1), David & Scott (QLD1), Steve & Helen (NSW1), Megan & Andy (TAS), Carly & Emily (VIC2)
Four	28 January 2013	28 April 2013	15	Dan and Steph Mulheron	Jake and Elle Harrison	Jessie & Biswa (NSW1), Lisa & Candice (WA2), Lisa & Stefano (SA1), Kieran & Nastassia (WAG), Ali & Samuel (TAS2), Angela & Melina (VICG), Josh & Andi (WA1), Jenna & Joanna (SA2) Ashlee & Sophia (NSWG), Kerrie & Craig (VIC1), Sam & Chris (VIC2), Luke & Scott (NSW2), Mick & Matt (TAS1)		Liz Egan Colin Fassnidge Guy Grossi Karen Martini

Foreign series

United Kingdom

Following the show's national and international ratings success in 2013, broadcaster Sky Living has purchased the format rights to My Kitchen Rules for a United Kingdom version. The British franchise is currently in planning, with cook and cookery book author Lorraine Pascale to host the show.

United States

In 2012, US-based production company Kinetic Content acquired the format rights for an American version of the show during the MIPTV Media Market event in Cannes, France.

Awards and nominations

The reality program has received nominations on the following awards:

Year	Award	Category	Result
2012	Logie Award	Most Popular Reality Program	Nominated
2013	AACTA Awards	Best Reality Television Series (Series 3)	Nominated
2013	Logie Award	Most Popular Reality Program	Nominated

Ratings and viewership average

Seasonal television ratings on aggregate figures for My Kitchen Rules on free-to-air Seven Network channel were gathered from TV Tonight covering only the five city metro across Australia, namely: Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney. The amount of viewers presented in the table below are in millions.

Series	Premiere Date	Finale Date	Episodes	Premiere Ratings	Rank	Finale Ratings (Grand Final)	Rank	Finale Ratings (Winner Announced)	Rank	Average series ratings	Ref.
One	1 February 2010	22 March 2010	16	1.103	#9	N/A		1.525	#1	1.338
Two	31 January 2011	13 April 2011	33	1.206	#5	1.719	#2	2.020	#1	1.538
Three	30 January 2012	27 March 2012	37	1.484	#1	2.186	#2	2.675	#1	1.752
Four	28 January 2013	28 April 2013	46	1.384	#3	2.154	#2	2.952	#1	1.835

International broadcasters

Country	Network	Current Broadcaster?	Dubbed or Subtitled?
Belgium	Vitaya	Yes	Subtitled
Estonia	Sony Entertainment Television
Finland	Kodista Gourmet Ravintolaksi
India	Zee Café	No
Ireland	RTÉ One	Yes
Latvia	Sony Entertainment Television		Dubbed
Lithuania	Sony Entertainment Television		Subtitled
Netherlands	Net 5
New Zealand	TV 2
Philippines	Colours
Poland	Viacom Blink!		Voice-over
Russia	Sony Entertainment Television

See also

• MasterChef Australia
• Come Dine With Me Australia

External links

• Official site