EXCLUSIVE: The ‘Feisty Cousins’ reveal what they really thought about their on-screen portrayal.

MKR’s Mel and Jacinta open up about their controversial portrayal following their elimination in Monday night’s episode. Photo: Channel 7

Despite being centred around home cooking, My Kitchen Rules has featured quite a few memorable ‘villains’ over the years. These controversial contestants typically divide social media with their bold opinions and wild dinner table antics, with viewers either labelling them as annoying or entertaining.

This year’s season is no different, with Sydneysiders Mel and Jacinta copping criticism online after clashing with their co-stars and repeatedly finding themselves at the centre of the drama. While the pair have been labelled the ‘Feisty Cousins’ on TV, Mel and Jacinta tell Yahoo Lifestyle following their elimination in Monday night’s episode that they were surprised by their ‘edit’.

“We didn’t even know we were the ‘Feisty Cousins’. We didn’t realise how we were being portrayed,” Jacinta shares. “They made us look very serious a lot of the time, and I don’t really take life that seriously.”

“We didn’t go into the show with the intention to be these drama queens,” Mel adds. “We actually do love to kind of take the piss and have a laugh and stuff like that. That’s another part of our personality that could have been brought out a little bit more as the show went on.”

Jacinta, who is a nutritionist, admits that she was hopeful her appearance on MKR would allow her to give Australians “new insights on how to cook”.

“So we didn’t have that intention [of causing drama], but for some reason, it just kept on turning back to us being drama and not knowing what we’re doing,” she shares. “It wasn’t spun the way I thought we would be.”

Mel and Jacinta admit they didn’t go on the show with the intention of being ‘drama queens’. Photo: Channel 7

Mel and Jacinta tease a return to reality TV

Although their experience on MKR was cut short, Mel and Jacinta tease that they would definitely be interested in appearing on another reality show in the future.

“We had a really great experience. It was so cool to do the whole filming with cast and crew,” Mel says. “We definitely would be open to it, but that’s not the reason why we went on the show. We went on the show to showcase our food and our values and thoughts around it.”

“We loved that opportunity, and it kind of did feel natural at the end of the day,” Jacinta remarks. “We’ve always wanted to do something like this together as well, so it was an easy choice when we had MKR pop up. So hopefully there are opportunities, especially being health and wellness focused.”