Why did they bring up Maria’s second business?

My Kitchen Rules (MKR) 2025 is filled with spice, and we’re not just talking about the food. From faux-knife fights to contestants claiming they were “gagging” on beef tongue, this year’s home cooking competition has turned up the heat. Cooks Jacinta and Mel have ruffled a few feathers, with their strong personalities making enemies out of Rielli, Michael, Bailey and Maria at the dinner table.

The cousins recently revealed a bombshell: Maria not only owns Blondies Bakehouse, but she also used to run another pastry business. Was this a deliberate strategic move to sabotage Bailey and Maria’s Instant Restaurant?

Mel tells Chattr she was simply passing information on, and didn’t realise it would come across as shady. “We were just looking at Maria’s first business… to see if [we] could get a cookie. And then as I was looking it up, I saw that there was an article that came up for Maria and another business,” Mel says.

“I actually was just sincerely wanting the teams to know that they’ve got some competition on their hands with Maria, and it’s like, that she’s quite good at what she does… it wasn’t a game plan.”

Jacinta chimes in, saying that the pair felt “deflated” having to compete against such experienced cooks. “Mel and I are home cooks,” Jacinta explains. “Just knowing that other teams and other people in the competition had cooked [on a large scale], that’s where it becomes difficult.

“We kind of felt a little bit deflated that we [were up] against someone who’s done it many, many, many times compared to us.”
Bailey and Maria’s Instant Restaurant. Image: Seven
Seeing as Mel and Jacinta have yet to cook, this comment about Maria’s business could come back to bite them.

“I don’t think we intended to come across like we were causing trouble… I know it definitely does look like that,” Mel admits. “Probably wasn’t great of us to even really share that type of information about Maria’s business, because we are so close to cooking, and people might have seen that as a negative kind of thing that we [were] doing.”

Jacinta warns viewers that things can be “taken fully out of context”, and assures Chattr that she and Mel have been “genuine” while competing on MKR.

Have Mel and Jacinta been voting strategically on MKR?

Viewers have pointed out that Mel and Jacinta have given quite low scores for Michael and Rielli, followed by Bailey and Maria, the two couples they have clashed with the most at the dinner table.

The cousins claim they’re not being strategic and prefer to vote honestly. So, perhaps they really didn’t enjoy the unseasoned beef tongue!

“We’re voting the way that we think the score should go, and we are being truthful for what we feel about the food. And you know, there’s a few comments where… I said that it needs more flavour and spice,” Jacinta says.

“I do put a lot of spices and lots of flavour into my food, and if that’s what I’m looking for, that’s what I was looking for… it’s what we actually really think of the food.”

Lol and Lil are next to cook, followed by Jacinta and Mel. Who will be going home? We’ll have to see how it all plays out.