My Kitchen Rules

I am a huge fan of reality TV shows, especially those that involve a competition element. While it is questionable how 'real' some of these shows are, I still enjoy seeing into the lives and personalities of various ordinary everyday people and seeing their achievements, struggles and relationships with others. Most of the reality TV shows I watch involve making something, whether that be food or clothes or art and so on, so I enjoy seeing the contestant's creativity as they try to make things that fit the instructions of the various challenges they are given. I think it is the combination of seeing real people achieve difficult and unusual things that I find so fascinating and this really keeps me going back reality TV.

Because I love reality TV shows so much it is hard for me to pick just one favorite, but one show that I enjoy is an Australian cooking competition called 'My Kitchen Rules'. In this show, a set number of pairs of amateur cooks compete against each other for a prize and the ability to say that their kitchen is the best. The pairs can be couples, siblings, friends, coworkers, ex-partners and so on. For the first and main part of the show, known as the 'Instant Restaurant' round, each pair takes it in turns to have all the other pairs over to their house for dinner, during which they prepare a 3-course meal. Two well-known chefs also attend the dinner as judges. After each course is served, the judges will sometimes give a short review, which may serve to fill the home cooks of the night with confidence or send them into the depths of despair! At the end of the three courses, the guest pairs give the meal a score out of 10, and the judges give each course a score out of 10. The guest pairs’ scores are anonymous at the time with only the combined total being told to the pair that cooked. However, of course we the audience are shown who gave what score.

Once all the pairs have cooked, the pair with the lowest score is eliminated from the show.  This adds a lot of drama to the show, as sometimes the pair with the lowest score during the 'Instant Restaurant' round engage in 'strategic scoring', where they give other pairs lower scores than they deserve to try to stay in the competition. It makes me sad when I see people do this in the show, but on the flip side it feels really good to see people avoid this advantage and score in a fair manner even when it means they will likely be eliminated. Following the 'Instant Restaurant' round and ensuing elimination, generally another fresh group of pairs goes through the same process, and then the surviving pairs from both groups participate in various cooking challenges until one pair is named the winner.

I guess the things I like the most about this show are the cooking and the evaluation of the cooking, but the drama between the contestants is also very entertaining at times. I don't think this show is the most realistic of the reality TV shows I watch as the contestants tend to have very colourful personalities and the drama between them can be over the top at times, so it feels somewhat scripted or deliberate. However, if you are ok with reality TV being changed a bit to increase the entertainment value, then this show is an enjoyable watch.

Belinda