Strategic voting rears its ugly head on ‘My Kitchen Rules SA’

The drama is heating up on My Kitchen Rules South Africa and season three is living up to high expectations as there were some worries it would be boring.

Hosted by celebrity chefs and judges David Higgs and J’Something, a group of home cooks compete in hopes of winning the R1 million grand prize.

The fast-paced cooking competition has cemented itself as a top show since it aired in 2019.

A pair of contestants, passionate about food, open an pop-up restaurant as each couple hosts their competitors and the two celebrity judges with a themed three-course dinner.

In season three, the contestants didn’t have the luxury of using their home kitchens as seen before because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The group in this season of My Kitchen Rules SA are all in one location, using and transforming their pop-up kitchen to a restaurant.

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The latest episode saw travel buddies Retha and Tshepi cooking up a global storm. Their menu consisted of dishes they loved the most during their international endeavours.

Their pop-up is called The Dinner Club and they served siu mai dumplings for starters, beef pho – a Vietnamese broth with noodles – for mains and Mochi – a Japanese ice cream for dessert.

Tshepi said they hoped everyone would be open to trying new foods.

The judges were highly impressed with the quality of food, while some of their competitors voted strategically. My Kitchen Rules SA viewers were critical of the team’s votes. The judges scored Retha and Tshepi an overall 44 out of 60, while the other contestants’ gave the duo 26 out of 40, a final total of 70 out of 100.

Despite this, the pair’s score was enough to put them ahead of their competition. Fellow contestants Karen and Tenile scored them five out of 10, which left many viewers bitter.