Husband and wife team Claudia and Bruce inspect the competition's culinary skills.
I recently hotfooted through to the launch of My Kitchen Rules SA at a schmancy hotel in Houghton to find out what we can expect from our local version of the series.
It premieres on M-Net this Sunday (13 August) at 18h00 and follows the same format as the international set-up: teams of two contestants create Instant Restaurants at their homes in a battle to be the best cooks.
They're judged by the show's two judges, singing chef J'Something (of Mi Casa) and professional chef David Higgs, who choose the tastiest teams to go through to a second phase where they compete in the show's test kitchen for the win.
I spent the morning with the first five sets of contestants - there are 10 in total - and discovered these five offbeat things:
Rein/Rowan
1. The "My Kitchen" that contestants Rein and Rowan use for their pop-up resturant isn't their kitchen at all. It belongs to Rowan's girlfriend's parents.
2. These two BFFs... Liz and Leanne from Bloem... look like this despite the fact that they spend huge portions of their lives cooking, tasting, cooking, tasting, E.A.T.I.N.G:
3. The contestants who hadn't filmed their instant restaurant scenes yet didn't know if they had to pay for the food they'd be using for the filming and seemed panicked at the thought because of all the food they were buying to rehearse their dishes.
Turns out they don't have to foot the bill themselves - the show gives each team a budget for their night.
4. There's an Amazing Race-type couple on the show. Claudia and Bruce. He's a martial arts expert and she has a
lot to say about everyone and their food. Their biggest strategy is clearly Mind Games. Definitely the sort you'd see elbowing through airports on TAR.
5. The overall prize is a surprise. Not only to us but to the contestants too. They didn't have a clue what they're winning so they could be in for a downer if M-Net decides to give them a personalised pair of J-Something's socks. Worst. Surprize. Evs.