Channel Seven has been forced to issue a reminder to keyboard warriors after two My Kitchen Rules contestants were targeted by online trolls.
The network took to its Instagram and Facebook Stories following Monday night’s episode, which aired the season’s final instant restaurant, to remind fans at home that the contestants were “real people.”
“Our incredible MKR participants are real people,” the statement read.
“Comments are encouraged, but offensive or personal attacks are not allowed.”
Although the posts didn’t mention any of the current contestants in particular, Victorian brothers Rob and Liam Watt were called out by social media users during the episode.
“Almost time for tonight, I’m fine,” Liam captioned a video he uploaded to his Instagram Stories on Monday, in which he shakily raised a glass to his lips.
The Watt brothers were eliminated after mother-daughter duo Janey and Maddie failed to ‘bomb’ as hard as they would have liked.
The brothers started the competition well, but fans did not react well to the duo refusing to judge a single dish from Janey and Maddie’s three-course meal.
Channel Seven has been forced to issue a reminder to keyboard warriors after two My Kitchen Rules contestants were targeted by online trolls
“We tried really hard,” Liam said as the pair were eliminated. ‘Congratulations to everyone, we wish you the best of luck.’
MKR’s official Facebook page attracted hundreds of comments about Rob and Liam following their elimination, with fans of the series expressing their frustrations over the brother’s ‘negativity’ towards the other contestants and ‘strategic’ voting.
“Good riddance,” was the most common comment, while other viewers called the brothers “sour grapes,” “childish,” “Melbourne snobs” and “the wafflers.”
“Enjoyed seeing the spoiled loser brothers get the boot,” one fan wrote on MKR’s Facebook, for example.
Others, however, focused on Janey and Maddie, especially as the duo’s mother licked her fingers and then touched the food.
Although the posts didn’t mention any of the current contestants in particular, Victorian brothers Rob and Liam Watt were called out by social media users during the episode.
“Let’s not forget the pineapple twist and then she licks her fingers,” one fan commented.
“I saw Janey lick her fingers and then touch the food,” someone else commented, followed by another who shared, “Their hygiene is disgusting. Licking fingers all the time and handling the food’.
“I agree,” another viewer replied. ‘They should have been disqualified for using tinned tomatoes and parcel dough [sic]. After all, it has to be a cooking show.’
While someone else took aim at Maddie and Janey: “The show is a joke now, the mother needs to grow up.”
“Both teams are so unlikely that it didn’t matter which one stayed,” another judged.
Ny Breaking Australia has approached Channel Seven for comment.
Mother Janey was also heavily criticized for licking her fingers and then touching the food
“Is anyone else offended by the Channel 7 post?” one MKR viewer commented.
‘Maybe Chanel 7 should tell their participants that. Viewers respond to what we see, your page makes it possible for us to respond.’
Meanwhile, other fans said they were quitting after noticing a glaring continuity error (and not for the first time this season).
Viewers were stunned to see Janey taking a hot plate out of the oven with her bare hands.
One MKR viewer took to Facebook to ask if anyone else was ‘offended’ by Channel 7’s statement
“A few mistakes in assembly (e.g. taking a baking tray out of the oven with bare hands, etc.) unfortunately reinforce the view that it is all staged, the cooking is not actually done by these participants,” one person wrote on Facebook.
“Switched off and went to bed.”
Earlier this year, MKR judge and celebrity chef Colin Fassinidge also took aim at online trolls.
Speaking about the Mentally like everyone else podcast, he said he’s willing to withstand online barbs, but targeting his wife Jane Hyland and daughters Lilly, 14, and Meave, 12, went too far.
‘Someone said he would molest my children. Someone said they were going to rape my wife. Someone said they were going to burn my house down. That’s just because they don’t like your TV show,” Colin said.
“You can bash me for being the worst chef in the world, my restaurants suck and you hate my hair, but leave my kids and the contestants out of it.
“And I’m like, ‘really?’ People think they can say whatever they want. I don’t mind if they attack me, but if they go to the next level, I freak out.”
Colin contacted New South Wales police in 2015 after receiving a disturbing tweet about his daughters.
“I had a man who, in a roundabout way, said he would look after my children, and I went to the police and asked what they were going to do about it,” Colin said. news.com.au in 2015, at the time of the incident.
‘The police officer said ‘he didn’t say he was going to bother them’… and he couldn’t do anything.’
Viewers were stunned to see Janey taking a hot baking tray out of the oven with her bare hands on Monday night and said the show felt ‘staged’.