Some people have argued that producers should’ve intervened.

MKR’s Mel and Rielli.

MKR’s Mel and Rielli went head-to-head in Tuesday night’s episode. Photos: Channel 7

We’re only two episodes into this year’s season of My Kitchen Rules, but a fierce rivalry has already been formed within the cast. Following Michael and Jacinta’s fiery clash in Monday night’s premiere over whether the competition should include non-meat-eaters, their respective teammates, Rielli and Mel, had an awkward confrontation during Anne and Maree’s instant restaurant.

The teams were going around the table discussing their ages between courses when Rielli proudly shared that she had turned 29 just a couple of days earlier. Mel, who is in her 30s, began to interrupt her announcement when Rielli jokingly picked up her butter knife and said: “What are you gonna say b***h?”

Mel was clearly taken aback by Rielli’s sense of humour, remarking in her piece-to-camera interview: “Did you just pick up a knife and come at me and call me a b***h?”

Mel then relayed the incident to fellow contestants Justin and Will, and said her heart was “still racing” because she thought “someone was going to pounce on [her] with a knife”.

“It was totally nothing aggressive, no, absolutely not,” Rielli argued, to which Mel responded, “Calling me a b***h and attacking me with a knife, not aggressive?”.

MKR’s Michael and Rielli.

Mel said her heart was ‘racing’ after Rielli jokingly pointed a butter knife at her. Photo: Channel 7

Rielli’s apology

The other contestants sitting around the table soon got involved, with Maria saying that Mel was allowed to feel how she feels, but her reaction was “a little bit too much”.

Rielli then excused herself from the table and walked away crying, with Mel and Jacinta admitting in their piece-to-camera interview that it was their “strategy” to “poke the bear”.

Rielli’s partner, Michael, wasn’t afraid to call out the ‘feisty cousins’, labelling them as “sooks” for taking the joke seriously. However, Rielli eventually apologised and said she shouldn’t have done it because it “could’ve been taken the wrong way”.

“Obviously, I don’t care, I just wanted to shut her up,” she remarked in her piece-to-camera interview.

Watch the moment unfold below:

 

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Fans divided over controversial moment

Fans were divided on social media following the incident, with many defending Rielli for her “harmless” remark.

“It was clearly a joke! Everyone gets so bloody offended so easily these days,” one person wrote, while another added, “Are they just manufacturing non-real issues at this point?”.

“Somebody doesn’t have siblings,” a third remarked, with someone else commenting, “She’s scared of a butter knife?”.

“As a viewer, I saw it as a joke,” a different user said, followed by another who replied, “That comment was in no way threatening”.

‘Be careful how you joke’

However, several viewers argued that Rielli’s actions were inappropriate and that the show’s producers should’ve intervened.

“Why would you think this behaviour is OK to put on TV with a family-friendly show? Do better,” a fan said, while someone else shared, “Not everyone gets your jokes… be careful how you joke”.

“Joke or not, it was aggressive. If you said that to a close friend jokingly, it would have been received better, but these people are not friends,” another pointed out.