My Kitchen Rules series 8
The eighth season of the Australian competitive cooking competition show My Kitchen Rules premiered on the Seven Network on 30 January 2017.
Applications for contestants opened during the airing of the seventh season. Pete Evans and Manu Feildel returned as hosts, with Colin Fassnidge who was joined by Darren Robertson in the instant restaurant round.
The start date for the season was confirmed in January 2017, and once again debuted the evening following the network's coverage of the Men's Singles final at the 2017 Australian Open.
Four special episodes of The Chase Australia aired featuring eight teams from this season, premiering on 16 February at 7:30pm.
Format changes
- Teams – All 18 teams from three groups appeared from the start of the competition. Although there have been the same number of teams in the past, a third group was usually introduced later in the competition.
- Special Guest Judges – Two special celebrity guest judges have appeared alongside the main judging panel for some challenges.
- *Darren Robertson – Joined Colin Fassnidge as judges for Group 3's Instant Restaurant round.
- *Curtis Stone – Makes his second appearance as a guest judge alongside Pete and Colin during the fourth People's choice challenge.
- Instant Restaurant Sudden Death – This season, the two lowest scoring teams from each round competed against each other in a Sudden Death Cook-Off to determine the team to be eliminated. In previous series, the lowest scoring team at the end of each Instant Restaurant group was immediately eliminated.
- Ultimate Instant Restaurants – Eight teams travelled around together in the biggest Instant Restaurant in the show's history.
Competition details
Instant Restaurants
During the Instant Restaurant rounds, each team hosts a three-course dinner for judges and fellow teams in their allocated group. They are scored and ranked among their group, with the two lowest scoring teams competing in a Sudden Death Cook-Off, where one team is eliminated.Round 1
Episodes 1 to 6Air date — 30 January to 7 FebruaryDescription — The first of the three instant restaurant groups are introduced into the competition in Round 1. The two lowest scoring teams at the end of this round go through to Sudden Death, where one team is eliminated.Sudden Death Cook-Off 1
Episode 7Airdate — 8 FebruaryDescription — Being the two bottom scoring teams from Round 1, David & Betty and Bek & Ash will face off in a Sudden Death Cook-Off. The lower scoring team is eliminated.Round 2
Episodes 8 to 13Airdate — 12 February to 20 FebruaryDescription — The second group now start their Instant Restaurant round. The same rules from the previous round apply and the two lowest scoring teams go to Sudden Death, where one team is eliminated.Sudden Death Cook-Off 2
Episode 14Airdate — 21 FebruaryDescription — Being the two bottom scoring teams from Round 2, Josh & Amy and Alyse & Matt will compete against each other in a Sudden Death Cook-Off. The lower scoring team is eliminated.Round 1
Episodes 1 to 10Airdate — 5 January to 3 FebruaryDescription — During the Instant Restaurant rounds, each team hosts a three-course dinner for judges and fellow teams in their allocated group. They are scored and ranked among their group. The highest scoring teams at the end of the round will advance directly to the next round, and the lowest scoring team will be eliminated.Sudden Death Cook-Off 3
Episode 21Airdate — 6 MarchDescription — Being the two bottom scoring teams from Round 3, Caitie & Demi and Lama & Sarah will face off in a Sudden Death Cook-Off. The lower scoring team is eliminated.Top 15
Kitchen HQ: Cookbook Challenge
Episode 22Airdate — 7 MarchDescription — The teams must choose recipes to cook out of either Pete or Manu's cookbooks. The top teams from each instant restaurant round were safe and were not required to cook. Then, the rest of the teams were divided into two groups of six. They must memorise the recipes, then cook the dish. The winning team from each group were decided by Pete and Manu and were safe from two eliminations. The bottom teams from each group must cook a dessert, with the team cooking the worst dessert to be eliminated.Top 14
People's Choice 1: Beach BBQ Challenge
Episode 23Airdate — 8 March- Location — Newport Beach, New South WalesDescription — The teams cooked a lunch for 200 lifesavers and nippers to say thank you for all their hard work. The food had to be easy to eat on the go. The team with the most votes was People's Choice and was safe from two eliminations. The bottom two teams, decided by and Colin and Pete, have to enter the next Sudden Death Cook-Off.
Sudden Death Cook-Off 4
Episode 24Airdate — 12 MarchDescription — As the two weakest teams from the Beach BBQ challenge, Amy & Tyson and Damo & Caz have to compete against each other in a Sudden Death Cook-Off, where one team will be eliminated. The winning team goes through to the Top 13.Top 13
People's Choice 2: Baking For Bikers Challenge
Episode 25Airdate — 13 MarchLocation — Pink Ribbon Motorcycle Ride at Club Marconi, New South WalesDescription — The teams cooked for the Pink Ribbon Motorcycle ride for breast cancer, each team had to raise the most charity money by getting as many bikers to pay for their food. The bikies determined the top team winning Biker's Choice, while the two bottom teams will go to the next Sudden Death elimination.Sudden Death Cook-Off 5
Episode 26Airdate — 14 MarchDescription — As the two weakest teams from the Biker's Challenge, Mark & Chris and Caitie & Demi have to compete against each other in a Sudden Death Cook-Off, where one team will be eliminated. The winning team goes through to the Top 12.Top 12
People's Choice 3: Canapé Challenge
Episode 27Airdate — 15 March- Location — Carnival Spirit CruiseDescription — Teams were on board the Carnival Spirit cruise ship to serve canapés for passengers. The passengers tried and voted for their favourite dish, the team with the most votes won Passenger's Choice. Judges Pete and Colin sent the two weakest teams to Sudden Death.
Sudden Death Cook-Off 6
Episode 28Airdate — 19 MarchDescription — As the two weakest teams from the Canapé Challenge, Josh & Amy and Kelsey & Amanda have to compete against each other in a Sudden Death Cook-Off, where one team will be eliminated. The winning team goes through to the Top 11. This Sudden Death is also held on board the same ship as the previous challenge.Top 11
People's Choice 4: Supermarket Sauce Challenge
Episode 29Airdate — 20 March- Location — ColesDescription — Teams must create a meal and a sauce worth bottling for the grocery buying public. The team with the most votes wins People's Choice and will have their sauce produced, packaged and sold in Coles supermarkets across Australia and also be safe from the next two eliminations. Pete, Colin and guest judge Curtis Stone will decide the bottom two teams who will face Sudden Death.
Sudden Death Cook-Off 7
Episode 30Airdate — 21 MarchDescription — As the two weakest teams from the Supermarket Sauce Challenge, Court & Duncan and Mell & Cyn have to compete against each other in a Sudden Death Cook-Off, where one team will be eliminated. The winning team goes through to the Top 10.Top 10
People's Choice 5: Street Party Challenge
Episode 31Airdate — 22 March- Location — Eat StreetDescription — Each team cooks out of shipping container kitchens where they set up their original instant restaurants and the customers are the residents on the street. Each resident will eat at any of the restaurants and rate their meal out of ten. The winning team will be safe from this elimination and also gets an advantage at the next challenge.
Sudden Death Cook-Off 8
Episode 32Airdate — 26 MarchDescription — As the two weakest teams from the Street Party Challenge, Mark & Chris and Brett & Marie have to compete against each other in a Sudden Death Cook-Off, where one team will be eliminated. The winning team goes through to the Top 9.Top 9
Kitchen HQ: Finals Fast Track Challenge
Episode 33Airdate — 27 MarchDescription — In a three-round challenge, teams competed for the winning prize to head directly into the finals. In the first round, teams were required to plate a dish in just 3 minutes, using one protein and other available ingredients. Tim and Kyle, as their advantage, were able to sit out this round and also determine the order of the other teams plating. The best three teams, along with Tim and Kyle, advanced into the next round where each team cooked a dish in 45 minutes. Each team was allocated the same ingredients for this cook-off. Additionally team members were to cook separately for the first 30 minutes and then rejoin for the remaining 15 minutes to finish. Finally, the best two teams advanced into Round 3 for a luxury ingredient challenge where the winning team advanced straight to the finals. All remaining teams went into an Ultimate Instant Restaurant round.Ultimate Instant Restaurant
Episodes 34 to 41Airdate — 28 March to 17 AprilDescription — With Tim & Kyle through to the finals, the remaining 8 teams headed around the country once again in an Ultimate Instant Restaurant round. All teams have to cook two dishes of each course for their fellow contestants and judges for scoring. Guests have a choice of choosing one of the options per course, while the judges Pete and Manu each taste one of the two options. At the end of this round, the lowest scoring team is eliminated.; Colour Key