MKR accused of filming contestants having sex
Privacy questions are raised when cooking show reportedly films contestants in an intimate moment.
- Published by David Knox
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An alarming story emerged yesterday of privacy and duty of care concerns around the upcoming season of My Kitchen Rules: The Rivals.
Buzzfeed reported two contestants were filmed being sexually intimate without their knowledge, with footage allegedly shared among Seven staff.
The 2020 season puts participants into “House of Manu” or “House of Colin” living quarters.
The footage, taken in mid-2019, shows a male contestant consensually digitally penetrating a female contestant on a couch in one of the houses.
“I had no idea [the cameraman] was there until we spotted him,” one participant told BuzzFeed News. “We caught him and then he swore he deleted the footage and obviously didn’t.
“It destroyed me for months afterwards,” the contestant said. “Since when has something like this been any sort of priority or even on the topic [for a cooking show]?”
The other participant declined to be interviewed.
According to their contract, everywhere in the house but the bedroom was a “potential” location for filming, including with stationary cameras. This activity took place on a couch at around 5am.
Seven did not deny the incident took place.
A Seven spokesperson told BuzzFeed News: “My Kitchen Rules: The Rivals is a family friendly cooking show broadcast in prime time. All filming was done in accordance with contestant contracts.”
It did not clarify how many staff had access to the footage but a source told Buzzfeed it was circulating at Seven’s post-production studios in Eveleigh some months ago.
“A cameraman had sneakily snuck down stairs, hidden behind the railing and filmed them from above,” they added. “You can see the two bodies lying on the couch… in between two staircase poles.”
The story follows Seven in hot water over a former House Rules contestant winning a NSW Workers Compensation Commission case for medical expenses due to psychological injury.
Seven is appealing the ruling, likely to be determined in early 2020.
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20 Responses
hmm could it be an old fashioned publicity stunt, or as Trump would call it ‘fake news’? i wouldn’t put it past them to throw around raunchy rumours to drum up more interest in the show….
What sort of show is this now?? They need to find the rails since they’ve obviously fallen off
So did it allegedly happen, or definitely happen and only allegedly shared amongst seven staff?
Seven did not deny, in fact indicated everything filmed has been under their standard conditions / contract. Any viewing by other staff is alleged.
This seems to demonstrate how little respect the crew have for the contestants that they would film for their own pleasure an intimate act (surely the cameraman knew this would never go to air) and share that video among themselves. It seems to be further evidence of the toxic culture people have been talking about on these reality TV sets.
Will tie in wonderfully with the cross-promotion for Big Brother.
Comments off. Oh wait no they’re not. Lol
This is alarming and is really what these nasty shows are about. Conflict, pitting people against one another, and now just flat out voyeurism. I wish people would just stop watching this crap. Value your time on the planet, we are better than this as a species.
As if this isn’t a publicity stunt leaked by seven to add some zest to MKR and try and drag some eyeballs back from MAFS. It’s pathetic!
To be fair, when you are a contestant on a show like this, there is very little escape so for them to enjoy some intimacy at a time of the day when no actual narrative is obviously being filmed, I think we can give them the benefit of the doubt here. You’d expect that content to be willingly filmed for a show like Big Brother but not with one that is still desperately claiming to be a cooking show. This is rancid conduct by the cameraman and his colleagues who in any way condoned it. Personally, I hope this escalates enough to bury the show once and for all.
How about the contestants take some responsibility, and perhaps do that sort of thing in a more private area.
Seven must be loving this. As the saying goes all publicity is good publicity
Must’ve thought they’d already started filming Big Brother.
… ha, ha, ha … I started my television career as a cameraman over fifty years ago and I can tell you that this is normal behaviour for a cameraman … nothing new …
No laughing matter. In my experience, not normal in 2019 and I’ve been on plenty of sets. I can’t speak for 50 years ago.
that’s nothing to boast about, CJ. it’s just gross.
Stay classy, Seven.
I hope they washed their hands before handling food ?
I guess the cameraman took it the wrong way when asked to film the couple put a bun in the oven.
MKR = MucKrakeR