My Kitchen Rules (often abbreviated as MKR) is an Australian competitive cooking game show broadcast on the Seven Network since 2010. The show is currently hosted and judged by chefs Manu Feildel and Colin Fassnidge, with Feildel being the only judge who has appeared in every season of the show. Fellow chef Pete Evans co-hosted until his departure after season 11. Other celebrity chefs and food critics frequently appear as guest judges or mentors in the kitchen. The series was originally produced by the team who created the Seven reality show My Restaurant Rules, and was put into production based on the success of Network 10's MasterChef Australia.
For many years, the program performed strongly in the ratings and was regularly one of the highest rated programs on Australian television, with the finales of each season consistently ranking amongst the top 10 highest rated programs of the year. However ratings declined notably during season 10 in 2019, and with further significant declines for season 11 in 2020, commentators speculated that 2020 would be its final season.
Seven did not renew the series at their annual upfronts in October 2020, but suggested the show may return in future. During Seven’s annual upfronts, the series was confirmed to return for a twelfth season in 2022. In December 2021, Feildel was announced to be returning as a judge. In April 2022, it was announced Nigella Lawson and Matt Preston will be joining the series as judges alongside Feildel with fellow returning judge Colin Fassnidge appearing as a judge in Kitchen HQ alongside Curtis Stone with a quest appearance from new judge Gary Mehigan. In October 2022, the series was renewed for a 13th season which aired from 4 September 2023. For the 13th season Fassnidge became a main judge and co-hosted alongside Feildel, with Lawson returning as judge for the finals, though Preston did not return to the show. In October 2023, the series was renewed for a 14th season which will air on 9 September 2024, with Feildel and Fassnidge returning. The fifteenth season auditions opened in October 2024. The fifteenth season premiered on 1 September 2025. The sixteenth season will premiere on 28 September 2026.
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 season. In the fourth season, 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. Season 5 introduced a team from the Australian Capital Territory, whilst season 11 marks the first time that there was not a team from South Australia.
+ State Season 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 colspan="3" colspan="4" colspan="2" Queensland colspan="5" colspan="2" colspan="3" South Australia colspan="8" colspan="2" colspan="2" Victoria colspan="3" colspan="2" Western Australia colspan="3" colspan="3" Australian Capital Territory colspan="2" Tasmania colspan="2" New Zealand Total 10 12 12 15 15 18 18 18 16 16 10 12 9 9 9
Judging panel
Series Hosts/Judges – Celebrity chef Manu Feildel has appeared in every season in the show. Pete Evans appeared alongside Feidel until season 11; they have been responsible for all challenges and judging across the series. For season 12, Matt Preston joined the series as a judge, with Nigella Lawson appearing alongside Feildel early in the season. Since season 13, Feildel and Colin Fassnidge feature as the show's as series judges, and were joined by Lawson as a judge in Kitchen HQ for one season. Colin Fassnidge (Judge) – Making his first appearance as a guest judge in season 4, Colin joined the blind tasting panel for Sudden Death cook-offs. He was also involved with additional judging roles such as facilitating the Comeback Kitchen and Food Truck challenges in seasons 4 and 5 respectively. In seasons 6 and 7, Colin and Manu had rotated roles for judging. Colin was present for People's Choice and off-site challenges, while Manu was involved in Headquarters challenges. Colin was also featured for the first time in an Instant Restaurant round in the same season. In season 12, Colin appeared as a main judge in the Kitchen HQ. Blind Tasting Panel – During Sudden Death cook-off eliminations, the blind tasting panel are asked to score and judge the competing teams' meals. Over the years, this panel has consisted of Liz Egan, Guy Grossi, Karen Martini, Colin Fassnidge, Jacqui Gowan, and Tobie Puttock until season 3. From season 1 to 3, the panel had knowledge of which teams were cooking. From season 4, as a blind tasting panel, they do not know who the competing teams were until scoring. After season 10, all judges were axed from the panel besides Fassnidge who continued to judge the show with Manu Feildel and Pete Evans. Guest Judges – Season 7 introduced new special guest judges who appeared in specific challenges alongside the main series panel. They included Rachel Khoo during Round 3 of the Instant restaurants and Curtis Stone during the first Kitchen HQ challenge. In season 8, Darren Robertson was included in an instant restaurant round. Guest judges returned in the twelfth season, with Stone and Gary Mehigan appearing in Kitchen HQ. Julie Goodwin appeared as a guest judge in the grand finale of season 14.
Judges Season 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 1415 Manu Feildel colspan="15" Pete Evans colspan="11" Colin Fassnidge colspan="3" colspan="7" colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="3" Nigella Lawson colspan ="11" colspan="1" colspan="2" Matt Preston colspan ="11" Jacqui Gowan Tobie Puttock colspan="3" Karen Martini colspan="10" colspan="5" Guy Grossi colspan="10" colspan="5" Liz Egan colspan="9" colspan="5" Rachel Khoo colspan="6" colspan="1" colspan="2" colspan="5" Darren Robertson colspan="7" Curtis Stone colspan="7" colspan="3" Gary Mehigan colspan ="11" Julie Goodwin colspan ="13"
Original format Applicable only during the first season, the show followed a sudden death format—where two teams will cook a three-course meal and the losing team will immediately be eliminated from winning the competition. Initially participating teams are 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.
Pre-2020 format 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 season, eight of the twelve couples did not use their own kitchens mainly due to their homes being too small to accommodate the production. In most cases when this happened it is the home of a family member or friend or a holiday home of one or both members of the team.
Team progress and eliminations: There were variations on format in team progress and elimination process in this round. During the first season 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 season, 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 season, 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. During the fourth and fifth seasons, there were two rounds of instant restaurant with six teams each, wherein the lowest scoring team of each group was immediately eliminated 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—titled as the gatecrashers. The losing team of the third round was also eliminated from the competition. During the sixth season, after the first two groups had completed their rounds, a third instant restaurant group were introduced as 'Colin's secret round'. In that round, Colin Fassnidge is the only judge critiquing that group and is also the first time ever in the show, where Pete and Manu do not make an appearance as hosts. The lowest scoring teams from each of the three groups is eliminated. Then the bottom 2 teams from each group competed in an Instant Restaurant Redemption round to eliminate two more teams.
Pre-finals round After the instant restaurants, the remaining teams compete in various challenges, either off-site or at Kitchen headquarters. Teams who cook the best dishes or receive the most votes/money can win People's Choice or Judge's Choice and are given advantages or are guaranteed safety from eliminations. Teams that fail to impress and receive poor reviews from the judges end up in a Sudden Death elimination. People's Choice Challenge – During this offsite challenge, teams all have an hour and a half to prepare their dishes relating to a theme or event. The team with the most 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 or from the next elimination.