My Kitchen Rules 2026 is set to bring plenty of tension to the table, with returning hosts and judges Manu Feildel and Colin Fassnidge warning viewers to expect “absolute carnage” when the new series begins.
Fassnidge said the latest contestants included strong personalities who were unlikely to see eye to eye for long.
“I love the characters who don’t all necessarily get on, and they let each other know pretty early on … just like an explosion,” he said.
Although the teams initially appear to perform well, Fassnidge suggested their progress would not necessarily follow expectations.
“Everyone sort of does well at the start and then there’s a few hiccups but they all come good and learn from their mistakes,” he said. “So, it’s not the team you think is going to do well.”
The chefs’ relationship has also changed considerably since Fassnidge first appeared as a guest judge on the Australian cooking show in 2013. Once linked by rumours of a feud, the pair now describe each other as brothers and have hosted My Kitchen Rules together since 2023.
That friendship does not mean they are comfortable sharing a kitchen. Feildel said the pair worked well when sitting beside one another at the judging table, but not when cooking together.
“You can’t put two bosses in the kitchen, you know what I mean?” the French chef said.
Fassnidge added to the teasing, saying: “Someone’s a bit grumpy in the kitchen, that’s not me.”
Beyond the programme, the pair have travelled around New Zealand filming their cooking and travel series Off The Grid, as well as enjoying what Fassnidge called a “little whiskey tasting”. Spending as long as six months at a time on the road has helped them recognise when the other is struggling.
“If someone’s a bit down, you can pepper them up. We know how to pick each other up and put in the support,” Fassnidge said.
Feildel said his co-host liked to “play the tough guy, but he’s very soft inside”, while Fassnidge continued to joke that Feildel was too difficult to share a kitchen or even a beach with.
Asked how they would approach the competition as contestants, Fassnidge replied: “I would just cook good and win.” He admitted he would also be “very annoying”, adding: “I can talk underwater and would have a story for everything.”
Feildel said contestants often underestimated the demands of the competition by arriving expecting a television experience and a chance to travel, only to discover they needed to be properly prepared.
“So if I was a contestant, I would buy Colin and Manu’s cookbooks. I would study them inside out and then I would make sure they love my food,” he said.
My Kitchen Rules 2026 premieres on Seven and 7plus on Monday, September 28.
