Dire ratings, bad press and now an offensive slur. Is MKR done?
As My Kitchen Rules continues to make headlines over its shocking ratings (last night it came 5th behind the ABC and SBS on 402,00 metro viewers), a new controversy is set to engulf the troubled show over the use of a homophobic slur.
Bartending buddies Ben & Vasil were the focus of last nights program as they served up a Disco Mexico theme and during preparations Vasil Bankovis is captioned as saying;
“Making sure I’m portioning this out evenly so those fags don’t have a reason to mark us down”
TV Blackbox has listened to this clip several times and cannot decipher what Bankovis is actually saying, which raises the question on whether this is a captioning error or whether the contestant actually said those words. It would seem unlikely that a phrase like that would pass by the editors, producers and network censor, which would mean a captioning error… BUT it certainly sounds as though he is saying ‘fags’.
Channel 7 advises he is using the word “faves”, which would make sense as the season is all about ‘faves’ versus ‘fans’.
Someone should have told the captioning department!
Meanwhile in another blow for the show, an attempt to be clever on social media has backfired. In a response to a facebook post from NSW Police saying;
Saying “MAFS is on at 7.30!” won’t get you out of a speeding ticket tonight. Slow Down.
The social media team at MKR decided to reply saying;
*MKR is on at 7.30*
Unfortunately that ‘reminder’ was met with comments like;
Who watches that??
While not all responses were in the negative, the majority were.
So, what went wrong this year, why have viewers turned?
That will be the question executives at Seven will be asking as it dies a slow, painful death. Was it the decision to ‘fix’ the show be changing the format or was it the fact it was scheduled up against the men’s tennis final which led to the lowest launch in the shows history.
Last year MKR rated approx 700k-800k which isn;t too bad for a show up against the juggernaut that is Married at First Sight but this year it has fallen in a heap.
It’s unlikely to be immediately yanked out of the schedule due to a shortage on replacement programming but there could be a reduction in the number of episodes and other shows are brought forward.
One thing is for sure: MKR is dead and won’t be back in 2021.
Featured
I can’t believe the drivel they’re fostered on us this season. Bad enough the guests fight and argue at every opportunity now the judges are running a fake battle. That and adult women sending “do you want to go out?” notes makes it even more infantile. For goodness sakes what were the powers-that-be thinking!
If MKR want to win back its audience it needs to focus on what the show is about – food! The distractions involving contestant conflicts (don’t think I can stand another season of Romel) and flirtations (a cringe worthy embarrassment to all) have nothing to do with the essence of the show. Get back to basics.
The judges are getting involved too early. the contestants are recycled. romel is back
MKR is shit. Get some new material and get some new producers in that place immediately! Poorly produced crap. Ridiculous.
MKR is supposed to be a COOKING competition. Why do we have to put up with love notes, flirtations and karaoke (Sue-Ann is over the top with her flirtation with Colin). It is ridiculous. The show has gone completely off track. Should have stuck with the original format. Get back to COOKING