“It’s basically MAFS with more dinner parties.”

My Kitchen Rules (MKR) 2025 has certainly introduced us to some interesting characters this season, and the introduction of the gatecrashers has only brought more drama.

But is the focus on drama turning fans off from watching the cooking show? MKR fans have started to get vocal on social media about the once-beloved family show manufacturing too much drama in a bid to win over new fans, and accusing the show of “scripting” drama.

“[The] teams are rude, arrogant, egotistical etc. It’s almost like the producers scripted the questions and answers. But no, surely Channel 7 would not stoop to scripting a reality TV show to try boost the ratings. Would they?” one disgruntled fan said on Reddit, saying they’d be switching back over to The Block. “MKR this season seams to spend more time concentrating on the conflicts, insults and rudeness around the table.”

Has MKR taken things too far with the group drama and conflict?

MKR fans are getting over the dramatic dinner parties. Image: Seven
Fans are becoming more disillusioned with MKR, stating they used to watch it to enjoy talented home cooks do their thing but now the focus on group dynamics and strategic scoring is turning them off.

“This has to up there as the worst MKR season thus far,” one person complained, with someone else saying, “I only hope the next round brings in some better home chefs as this year’s are duds so far, thus the emphasis on drama. Still watching with hope that it gets better.”

“This is exactly why I stopped watching this show. It continued to be more about the personalities and drama than the talent, despite them saying that would stop,” another former fan complained.

“MKR was so much better when it was a cooking show. Now it’s basically MAFS with more dinner parties,” someone else commented.

One viewer pointed out what they thought was really going on with MKR, and look, it’s quite logical.

“It isn’t a cooking show. It is a reality show set at different dinner parties, the cooking is only part of the story and used as a vehicle to progress the drama,” one person stated. “It is not trying to be MasterChef, Channel 7 is targeting the ‘real housewives’ viewer demographic, not the purely cooking interested one.”

MKR contestants refute claims that the show is scripted

MKR’s Mel and Jacinta were known as the ‘feisty cousins’. Image: Seven
2025 contestants Mel and Jacinta previously told Chattr that the show is “not scripted” and said emotions get heightened when filming due to the nature of the competition.

“People are definitely passionate when it comes to the show, and you know, emotions can be heightened, and there’s $100,000 at the end of it,” Mel said.

Jacinta added: “We have hours and hours of footage, so how much the audience actually sees compared to what’s actually said at the time as well. So you know, something could be said, but it could be in a different situation [or context].”

The pair also denied claims they were voting strategically in the show in a bid to stay in the competition.

On MKR, there’s a strategic component to the Instant Restaurant rounds, with each team being able to score their competition’s meal, therefore if they wanted to give a competing team a super low score strategically, they could.

“We’re voting the way that we think the score should go, and we are being truthful for what we feel about the food,” Jacinta told Chattr.