Will they score strategically?

The claws are out on My Kitchen Rules 2025 (MKR), with Jacinta and Mel letting slip they were thinking of voting strategically during Rielli and Michael‘s Instant Restaurant, before scoring the couple a paltry four out of 10. While Rielli and Michael had some issues with their starter and main, their dessert was praised by the judges, with Colin Fassnidge awarding them a 10.

Rielli and Michael have beef with Jacinta and Mel, with Michael labelling them as “sooks” and Rielli jokingly pulling a butter knife on them. However, seeing the score of four come through was still a shock.

“I think Jacinta just really wants us out of the competition, and she’ll say anything to make our food and even us look bad. And I think she does it to try and sway the table to ultimately get us removed from the competition,” Rielli tells Chattr.

“Four was really harsh. I felt like we did not deserve four. Like, that’s well below average.”

Considering Mel and Jacinta’s Instant Restaurant is still to come, there’s a possibility that other teams could vote strategically and get revenge on the cousins. Rielli and Michael claim they won’t “stoop down to that level”, and plan on being fair.

“As much as I wanted to get revenge, I respect food too much,” Michael says. “Strategic scoring hurts my soul. I love food, and I feel like all of the food should be scored fairly. It doesn’t matter if you have beef with other teams, you’re on a cooking show, you score the food based on the food, not the people that are cooking it.”

Rielli adds that the couple want to win fairly, not because they’ve dunked on other teams. “If you can’t put the drama aside, you’re not on MKR for the right reasons. Ultimately, at the end of the day, it’s about the food and how you can cook, and what you plate up, and that’s what should be judged.

“We have definitely never strategically scored… if I’m going to win, I want to win where it’s based on good merits and it was warranted.”
The MKR cast during Rielli and Michael’s Instant Restaurant. Image: Seven

Did MKR’s Jacinta get caught in a lie?

When Jacinta was giving feedback on Rielli and Michael’s raspberry gel with chocolate dome dessert, she said that it wasn’t “rich” enough for her tastebuds and claimed not to enjoy it.

However, she previously mentioned at Anne and Maree‘s Instant Kitchen that she doesn’t enjoy finishing a meal that’s too heavy, decadent and rich.

“It’s not making sense… now it’s the other way around?” Rielli points out.

Michael says Jacinta is “constantly shifting the goalpost”, and it certainly seems like she has a grudge against this duo.

Will Jacinta and Mel score higher than Michael and Rielli when they finally put on their MKR aprons? That’s bound to be a fiery Instant Restaurant episode.