Format My Kitchen Rules

1 format

1.1 contestants
1.2 judging panel
1.3 original format
1.4 current format

1.4.1 instant restaurant round
1.4.2 pre-finals round
1.4.3 finals round

1.4.3.1 semifinals
1.4.3.2 grand final

format
contestants

the australian show had teams of 2 contestants pre-existing relationships—from new south wales, queensland, south australia, victoria, , western australia—competing against each other transform ordinary home instant restaurant complete theme , table decorations 1 pressure-cooker night. 2011, number of competitors grew teams tasmania joined show. team new zealand took part in third series. in fourth series, there fifteen teams made of 2 teams each state, plus 3 additional teams—the gatecrashers—from new south wales, victoria , western australia. season 5 has introduced team australian capital territory.

judging panel

series judges – celebrity chefs , co-hosts pete evans , manu feildel have appeared in every series in show. have been responsible challenges , judging across series.
colin fassnidge (judge) – making first appearance guest judge in series 4, colin joined blind tasting panel sudden death cook-offs. involved additional judging roles such facilitating comeback kitchen , food truck challenges in series 4 , 5 respectively. in series 6 , 7, colin , manu had rotated roles judging. colin present people s choice , off-site challenges, while manu involved in headquarters challenges. colin featured first time in instant restaurant round in same series.
blind tasting panel – during sudden death cook-off eliminations, blind tasting panel asked score , judge competing teams meals. panel consists of liz egan, guy grossi, karen martini , colin fassnidge. included jacqui gowan in series 1 , tobie puttock until series 3. series 1 3, panel had knowledge of teams cooking. series 4, blind tasting panel, not know competing teams until scoring.
guest judges – series 7 introduced new special guest judges appeared in specific challenges alongside main series panel. include, rachel khoo during round 3 of instant restaurants , curtis stone during first kitchen hq challenge. in series 8, darren robertson included in instant restaurant round.



original format

applicable during first series, show followed sudden death format—where 2 teams cook three-course meal , losing team eliminated winning competition.

initially, participating teams split 2 groups of 5 compete in separate round of instant restaurant.
a team placed last (fifth place) in each instant restaurant group eliminated competition. however, teams placed third , fourth compete in cook-off, , 2 lowest scoring teams eliminated.
after cook-off, remaining 6 teams competed in quarterfinal of 3 rounds, wherein:

#2 teams in both instant restaurant groups competed in first quarterfinal round;
#1 team in first instant restaurant , #1 team in cook-off competed in second quarterfinal round; and
#1 team in second instant restaurant , #2 team in cook-off contended in last quarterfinal round.


losing teams of each quarterfinal rounds eliminated. however, overall highest scoring team in quarterfinals advanced straight through grand final. remaining 2 teams contended in semifinal, last berth finale round.

current format
instant restaurant round

each episode focuses on 1 team s day of cooking, setting instant restaurant , serving three-course dinner—entrée, main, , dessert—for judges , opposing teams. teams start cooking 3 hours before other teams , judges arrive @ house. after team served 3 meals judges , opposition, each opposing team must rate total meal out of ten, each main judge must rate each of 3 courses separately out of ten. lowest scoring team @ risk of elimination.

contestants not cook in own homes, example in third series, 8 of twelve couples did not use own kitchens due homes being small accommodate production. in cases when happened home of family member or friend or holiday home of 1 or both members of team.

team progress , eliminations:

there variations on format in team progress , elimination process in round.

during first series of show, lowest scoring teams (fifth place) of each instant restaurant round eliminated competition. meanwhile, top 2 scoring teams on both rounds advanced through quarterfinals round. teams placing third , fourth on both instant restaurant rounds have compete in kitchen cook-off, 2 losing teams eliminated , other 2 proceed through quarterfinals.
on second series, lowest scoring teams of each instant restaurant round competed in sudden death cook-off, wherein losing team eliminated competition. remaining teams advanced people s choice challenge—a new competition format replacing quarterfinals round.
during third series, 3 lowest scoring teams of each instant restaurant round competed in yet instant restaurant, having 3 rounds season. losing team of third instant restaurant eliminated competition.
during fourth , fifth series, there 2 rounds of instant restaurant 6 teams each, wherein lowest scoring team of each group eliminated competition. however, after second round, tally of instant restaurant scores both groups combined , 3 lowest scorers out of remaining ten teams competed in instant restaurant round new set of teams—titled gatecrashers. losing team of third round eliminated competition.
during sixth series, after first 2 groups had completed rounds, third instant restaurant group introduced colin s secret round . in round, colin fassnidge judge critiquing group , first time ever in show, pete , manu not make appearance hosts. lowest scoring teams each of 3 groups eliminated. bottom 2 teams each group competed in instant restaurant redemption round eliminate 2 more teams.

pre-finals round

after instant restaurants, remaining teams compete in various challenges, either off-site or @ kitchen headquarters. teams cook best dishes or receive votes/money can win people s choice or judge s choice , given advantages or guaranteed safety eliminations. teams fail impress , receive poor reviews judges end in sudden death elimination.

people s choice challenge – during offsite challenge, teams have hour , half prepare dishes relating theme or event. team number of guest votes (sometimes, best-selling dish if tasked sell meal) declared people s choice , safe rest of round or next elimination.
food truck - used in series 5 (2014), during rounds top 12 top 9, remaining teams people s choice compete in new food truck challenge. sees teams split 2 groups (dependent on number of teams remaining in competition) , each run competing restaurants, cooking in large semi-trailer opens 2 kitchens. patrons dining pay believe meal worth. win, group must earn amount of money. losing group continue onto rapid cook-off, whilst winning group, become safe elimination , formed team s jury.
rapid cook-off – in kitchen headquarters, teams challenged create dish using key ingredient in 30 minutes. teams reviewed judges number of teams safe elimination, , competing in following showdown. in series 5, dishes not judged pete , manu, teams jury, formed teams safe round. able select 1 of teams safe.
showdown – teams worst dishes during rapid cook-off compete in round cooking meal using core ingredient in 60 minutes. team worst dish, again, chosen judges , proceed straight through sudden death round.
sudden death – 2 losing teams challenges battle out producing three-course meal pete , manu, , 4 guest judges. both teams must prepare dishes in total of 3 hours — have 90 minutes prep. , serve entree, 60 minutes main course, , 30 minutes dessert. each judge critiques , scores total meal out of ten, , lowest scoring team eliminated competition. fourth series, blind tastings introduced , guest judges critiqued dishes without knowing team cooked it.

finals round

finals round consists of 3 rounds: 2 sets of semifinals, , grand final. follow sudden death cook-off format teams produce three-course meal main judges , 4 guest judges. teams meals scored out of ten judges , lower scoring team eliminated.

semifinals

prior grand final round, 4 remaining teams compete in semifinal round. teams going head-to-head in round determined variously in different series.

in 2011 series, there 4 knives on table, 2 of had semifinal 1 on labels, , other 2 had semifinal 2 on blades. labels covered, leaving knife handles visible. each team asked select knife. teams picked semifinal 1 knives competed in first semifinal, while teams chose semifinal 2 contested second semifinal.
in 2012 series, teams competed in seeding round. teams competed in 2 challenges, , dishes on each challenge scored out of ten judges. highest scoring team (#1) of seeding round cooked against lowest scoring team (#4) in first semifinal, while #2 , #3 teams competed in second semifinal.
in 2013 , 2014 series, final 4 teams divided 2 semifinal match-ups based on rankings in final 5 round. in 2012, #1 cooked against #4, , #2 cooked against #3.

grand final

winners of each semifinal go straight through grand final round, last stage of competition. each teams meal scored , higher scoring team declared kitchen rules champion.