The gatecrashers spill the tea on the OG contestants

Coming in late on MKR Australia as gatecrashers, “saucy divorcees” Amy Page Hedges and Lara Doherty say the way they were treated by the original teams was “a bit of a shock”.

Says an indignant Amy, “They were mean.”

Her kitchen buddy Lara, agrees, “They were a little bit mean, but we loved it! We just rolled with it.”
Amy and Lara met a couple of years ago and just “clicked”.

The dinner that turned cold

Amy adds, “It suited us down to the ground, but we didn’t understand why they were so cold. It’s like, ‘It’s just dinner! Why are you being like this?’”

Amy says Michael “Meat Master” Edelberg tried to make it clear that he thought he was in charge.

“It was like Michael felt he was better than everyone else at the table,” she shares.

“It just didn’t seem fair.”

This week on MKR, the tensions between the Brisbane besties and the OG teams rise when it’s revealed Amy has a career as a private cook – something she’s been keeping secret from the
other teams.

Keeping it real in the kitchen

Amy, 45, admits that having spent years cooking for the rich and famous might give her an edge, but she insists the meals she’s used to preparing for her work aren’t necessarily fine dining.

“They are more banquet feasts,” she admits.

“The food’s not always all plated up.”

She believes MKR’s a challenge for everyone.

“At the end of the day, it’s a cooking competition and we’re all home cooks. I’m not a chef.”

Cooking up a fresh start

Comparing themselves to the leading ladies of Kath & Kim and Absolutely Fabulous, the women both have two daughters – Amy’s a mum to Indy, 14, and Sunny Blue, 11, while Lara, 36, has Evelyn, 11,
and Margot, eight. They say they’re on the show because they want to “do something different” after their divorces.

Tech consultant Lara shares, “We’ve had a hard time and this is coming out of the other side of it. We’re trying to be more independent and follow our passions.

“The kids have been through all this divorce stuff, and this is something exciting and fresh, to make them proud of us and inspire them. You’ve got to persevere and be resilient, no matter what’s thrown at you