And it wasn’t for Michael to become the “Meat Master”.

My Kitchen Rules stars Michael Edelberg and Rielli Portegys certainly made an impression during their time on the Channel Seven show.

From explosive arguments to tense rivalries and Michael’s now-iconic “Meat Master” nickname, they certainly won’t be forgotten anytime soon.

But now, Rielli has revealed the real reason they signed up for the Channel Seven cooking competition, and it wasn’t because of Michael!

In an Instagram post shared after their elimination, Rielli explained that they actually wanted to join MKR to give her a chance to showcase her love of baking.
Michael and Rielli have revealed the real reason they signed up for My Kitchen Rules. (Credit: Instagram/Channel Seven)
She explained that they never went on the show for Michael to become the “Meat Master”, and her high-scoring desserts certainly proved her own impressive talents.

“What a whirlwind the past couple of days have been! I still can’t believe our journey with #MKR has officially come to an end and we wouldn’t have wanted to go out any other way,” she penned.

“Like Michael always says, we weren’t on MKR for him to be the Meat Master but for me to showcase my love and passion for baking, and I feel that’s exactly what we did. Mission successful.

“I couldn’t be prouder of what we plated and how we showed up as a team.

“Well done @danielleoakman and @21savic__, you guys did amazing and we’re so happy you get to cook more than twice on MKR!”

She went on to thank Seven’s production teams for letting them “run amok on TV”, jokingly adding: “You’re welcome for the ratings boost.”

The couple, who are now engaged, went home during Monday night’s elimination, losing out against Danielle and Marko by just one point.

Speaking to New Idea after their exit, Michael reflected on his self-given “Meat Master” nickname and how it affected their time in the competition.
They signed up for the show not for Michael to become the “Meat Master”, but for Rielli to show off her baking talents. (Credit: Instagram/Channel Seven)
“Calling myself the Meat Master, I feel like as soon as I brought that title upon myself, every single person just wants it,” he told us.

“It’s weird, it’s clear that Mark is nipping at my heels every chance he gets to try and steal the title, but even now that the show’s airing, I’ve got friends and family and different people that have taken it full to heart.

“They’re posting like ‘oh he should beat the Meat Master’ like you give yourself a title and everyone just comes for you!

“But you know what they say, it’s very rare to have haters doing better than you.”

Michael admitted his nickname might have put a “target” on his back and conceded that his outspoken antics might have affected how the other teams scored them.

“Looking back on that now, there were definitely some things that we could have changed to stay in the competition, specifically my chat!” he added.
Michael and Rielli lost out to Danielle and Marko in Monday’s elimination cook-off. (Credit: Instagram/Channel Seven)
However, they insisted that they didn’t score any of the teams on anything other than their talents, after Maria and Bailey were caught up in a “strategic scoring” row.

“We were sort of confused, now we’re able to watch it back, we thought that everyone would be like us and would be scoring the food based on the food, rather than how people speak at the table,” Michael explained.

“We’ve got such high respect for the quality of food and eating food in general that we scored everything as we got on the table – the flavours, the textures, the techniques.”

This week, Maria and Bailey have been accused of “low-balling” their rivals in a bid to secure their own place in the competition.