My Kitchen Rules contestants Angus and Simon have challenged Zoe’s decision to enter the competition despite following a pescatarian diet, sparking a dispute with the New South Wales team during the latest instant restaurant.
The South Australian best friends questioned how Zoe could fully take part in a cooking contest if she could not eat every dish. Zoe and her teammate Zac were left to defend her decision as the teams assessed mother-and-daughter duo Krysten and Lucy’s second cook.
My Kitchen Rules pescatarian drama
Angus said he had become protective of the original teams after the arrival of the gatecrashers, whom he felt had appeared over-confident.
“I didn’t think that I would be like this, but I felt quite protective of the OGs because we’ve been through this crazy experience all together,” Simon said.
He added: “And then you got these new teams come in appearing all arrogant, you know, wanting to sit at the table with you and acting like it’s all cool. And I just didn’t think it was cool.”
Angus said Zoe’s apparent lack of concern about not eating some of the food had particularly frustrated him.
“What really bothered me is the fact that it didn’t seem to bother Zoe at all,” he said. “She was just happily sitting there like a goose, not contributing. Like she was treating the whole experience like it was a holiday and it was going to be really fun.”
Zoe maintained that she could still judge meat dishes visually, despite not eating them. Angus dismissed the approach, saying: “Zoe said ‘she went visual on that one’ but I just thought it was quite silly.”
Simon compared the situation to taking part in a class without being able to learn, while still expecting to receive a good grade.
“The irony of being in a cooking competition when you can’t eat and participate, that’s like being in a class and not being able to do any of the learning, expecting just to get a good grade and keep going through,” he said. “Like that’s just not how things work.”
Angus and Simon are yet to cook their second instant restaurant and said they hoped the other contestants would judge them on their food rather than their outspoken views.
The pair said their first service, named Last Orders because Angus works as a funeral director, had been one of the toughest experiences they had faced.
Simon described the competition’s highs and lows as “something I’ve never experienced”, while Angus said they had quickly learned how easily a carefully prepared plan could unravel.
“As soon as one thing goes wrong, it goes to show how potentially flawed your planning was in the first place,” Angus said.
The next gatecrashers to cook are hipster friends Harrison and Oliver, with tears expected at the dinner table.
