When your the new girlfriend with a tawdry past to reality TV’s boy next door, Pete Evans, you really need to not start talking to the tabloid newspapers.

Unfortunately Nicky Watson, Pete Evan’s new squeeze has not heeded this advice and talked to the Sunday Telegraph, hitting back at an article from last week where his former partner and mother of his children Astrid Ellinger talked about how she wasn’t happy with the new girlfriend.

However Nicky who now lives in Sydney returns fire:

KIWI model Nicky Watson has fired back at celebrity chef Pete Evans’ ex-partner’s “low” attack on her, saying she is down to earth and just misunderstood.

Watson last week came under fire from former competitive skier Astrid Ellinger, who had two children with Evans during their 11-year relationship.

It remains unclear how long Watson and Evans have been dating, however Waston confirmed she had been living inSydney for “a while now”.

“I love Australia, I love New Zealand. I love both countries,” Watson said.

The Christchurch-born socialite refused to say whether she was living under the same roof as the My Kitchen Rules star. “There is a family involved here and everyone needs to be protected, I will do my part in that.”

She said claims by Evans’ former partner that she was not down to earth were wrong but she refused to get into a slinging match.

“It’s over my head (how Astrid has treated me) and I won’t go that low.”

She added: “I have been portrayed (by Astrid) in a way different to who I really am.” Watson – who once featured in a one-hour documentary and admitted attempting suicide, using hard drugs, having threesomes and attending horse races with no underwear – said she was moving to Sydney to avoid media attention in Auckland.

“I have never sought attention. How many social events do you think I’ve been to? I can count them on one hand. I don’t seek publicity.”

Do Pete Evans and Manu Feildel have a clause in their contract that states no guys hotter then themselves can be contestants on the show? As I look over the contestants I am not seeing much eye candy for the over thirty woman.

Masterchef Australia learnt the hard way last year – don’t cast at least one straight hot male (ie. someone with a fuckability factor – yes that is a technical term) in the over thirty age demographic the female viewers in that age bracket are not happy. A person can only ogle Gary, George and Matt for so long. OK that is one of my many theories why Masterchef dropped in ratings and I am sticking by it.

Anyway unless you like the preppy look or men in army uniforms there is really not much in the My Kitchen Rules cast, and of course there are plenty of hot girls. There is even a MILF!

Anyway here is the list of contestants:

Group 1:
New South Wales – Steve & Helen (Siblings)
Western Australia – Angela & Justine (Teacher and Truckie)
South Australia – Leigh & Jennifer (Florist and Princess)
New Zealand – Simon & Meg (Kiwis)
Queensland – David & Scott (Soldier mates)
Victoria – Thomas & Carla (Just friends)

Group 2:
New South Wales – Sam & Jillian (Potential in-laws)
Western Australia – Emma & Andrew (Engaged scientists)
South Australia – Nic & Rocco (Childhood mates)
Tasmania – Megan & Andy (Sales Reps)
Queensland – Peter & Gary (Lawyer and Doctor)
Victoria – Carly & Emily (Competitive Sisters)

However the series does look like it will be an entertaining one. Manu Feildel and Pete Evans are back as host/judges. Also the same team is back to judge when they are all back in the kitchen – Guy Grossi, Tobie Puttock, Liz Egan and Karen Martini.

As I have written previously, I would like to see a critic around that table rather then all chefs. In fact I would flick Tobie as I find him lacking in charisma, but I am sure he has some fans.

Also the prize money has been increased to $250,000, I missed this but picked it up on TV Tonight blog, as he clearly sticks to the more important issues.

My Kitchen Rules will be airing in a matter of weeks and slowly the names are starting to be leaked.

In NSW Samantha teams up with her potential future mother-in-law Jillian. Sam who is only 23 has been dating Jillian’s son for three year. They have a “high end boutique” approach.

The other NSW team is also from Sydney and they are a brother and sister team of Helen 46, and Steve, 51. They have a Greek background, and their parents owned a fish and chip shop.  Helen when she was 16 had to take over the cooking for her family as her mother had died.

Tasmania will have a newly engaged couple Megan Woodman and Andy Appleby, and they look like we might see a bit of fire between them.

The Mercury article states:

“I think just the fact we’re in a relationship as a couple, so we work together really well because we know each other so well,” Ms Woodman said. “I think we can bicker and fight about things and not hold back.”

“I run around like a headless chook, I’m a bit full-on,” Ms Woodman said.

“Andy’s more laid back and relaxed, which annoys me.”

Meanwhile there’s some disagreement about who’s in charge, but the situation seems to have worked itself out.

“Megan thinks she’s the boss and I like to let her think she’s the boss, but I really am,” Mr Appleby said.

Last week a commenter on this blog was querying what happened to My Kitchen Rules judge Pete Evans marriage, and it was like the tabloid newspaper gods shone down on us as low and behold there was a story about it in the Sunday Telegraph.

Pete Evans split earlier this year from his long term partner Astrid Ellinger with whom he has two children, apparently has a new girlfriend kiwi model Nicola Watson.

Astrid lets fly about the My Kitchen Rules judge in the interview:

“He’s got more famous and it inevitably changes anyone,” the mother-of-two said. “All I’m going to say is Pete has had down-to-earth girlfriends (before) so I’m not sure what’s happened now. I’m a down-to-earth and natural person. I don’t know what she is like.”

Ms Ellinger, who lives in North Bondi with her children, refused to go into the details of their split, which had been reported last month as “amicable” after more than a decade together. “She can have him if she wants.”

Watson, also known as Nicola Robinson, is a prominent Kiwi socialite and model formerly married to millionaire Warriorsleague club owner Eric Watson, whom she divorced in 2003. Her subsequent romances have included Sydney nightclub boss Justin Hemmes and ex-All Blacks Matthew Ridge and Ali Williams.

During an infamous 2007 TV interview, Watson admitted attempting suicide, undergoing three breast augmentations, using hard drugs, having threesomes, watching pornography from a “young age” and forgetting to wear underwear while attending horse races.

Watson recently revealed she no longer wanted to be famous, would revert to her birthname and seek refuge working at a day spa in a rural NZ community.

Ms Ellinger was clearly upset about the rising TV star’s new love. “I have googled (Watson) and I am shocked, she is not the type of girl Pete would usually go for. I am shocked,” she said. “I do not know what has happened.”

“I don’t care. I am just getting on with my life and they can go to it.”

Ms Ellinger quizzed The Sunday Telegraph about Watson, asking: “What can you tell me about her?”

My guess it is a what is commonly known as a mid-life crisis.

All the new shows are putting out promos and My Kitchen Rules is no exception. Manu Feidel and the newly single Pete Evans are back, and the big twist is this year there is a team from New Zealand.

They have the sheep baaing in the promo, let’s hope they leave the sheep jokes there, as it could get tedious. Other then that it should be an entertaining series.

My Kitchen Rules to premiere on Channel Seven at the end of January.

If the Courier Mail is correct, it would appear The Renovators won’t be renewed this year. The show that launched to much fanfare in 2011 just never managed to get a foothold in the ratings.

This was due to the lack of clarity and consistency in the format, but also The Block was rating well and people at the start of the series did not want to add it in to their reality schedule.

This is a pity as can be seen by the poll on this page on Which Was The Best Australian Reality TV Show of 2011, that The Renovators was very popular with the people that did actually watch it.

The Renovators had the skeleton of being a great reality TV show and with a few format changes I think would have been a ratings winner in 2012. Channel Ten should have seen how Channel Seven stuck with The X Factor and My Kitchen Rules which in 2010 ratings were very average indeed, but this year boomed for them.

It is a pity, but I am sure there will be a new show to fill the void and I am hoping it will be Professional Masterchef.

After Almost Bourdain posted these twitpics on twitter it started a twitter conversation on which one was the most delectable picture.

Which one do think looks the hottest?

And sorry male straight readers you are welcome to comment but I could not find any saucy female chef photos to add in.

In not surprising news Bella and Sammy won the second season of My Kitchen Rules. They have been the stand out team throughout, and Kane and Lee just did not have the finesse to challenge them.

It was a bit like the Masterchef Australia final last year you just knew Adam Liaw would win.

The Daily Telegraph has a run down of the win, and their five course meal sounds delicious. Hopefully I will catch up on the episode today.

Sammy says she wants to be a food stylist, I am not sure what Bella’s plans are. However you could ask them yourself as they will be live blogging on the Daily Telegraph at Midday.

UPDATE: The finale hit a ratings peak of 2.02 million.

It all comes down to this: Sammy and Bella vs Kane and Lee, or – as some seem to want to insist – NSW vs Victoria.  But before there were only these two couples, there were others, including (babe) our South (babe) Australian (babe) contenders, Anne-Marie and Nick, who revealed to Adelaide Now that this might not be something they’d ever do again.  (So… no all-star season appearance?)

Back to tonight: whose cuisine will reign supreme?  Well, Channel 10 has invited RR to a nicely (cunningly?) timed launch of their own little competitive cooking show, so she is unable to blog this final for us tonight.  Not wanting to leave you dedicated fans in the lurch, here’s a post for you to discuss your thoughts/opinions/observations/puns as the show goes to air.  And afterwards.

And if you are on Twitter, I hope you are following @realityraver – who knows, she might tweet some juicy tidbits from the Masterchef launch!

This is controversial but who fries custard? Custard dipped in breadcrumbs, however apparently people cook it.

The other outrage was the standard of cooking in this semi-final where Kane and Lee were competing against Ann-Marie and Nick.

Both desserts looked pretty ordinary in my opinion. Ann-Marie and Nick’s was fried custard with raspberries, and the Victorian teams was a dry looking orange and hazelnut cake.

The producers need to rethink the semi-format as it is a travesty that the second best menu presented over the two nights is not in the finals.

Also while the producers are tweaking the show can they flick Tobie Puttock who seems like a nice guy but he is dull, or as @sixinchheels on twitter says “lacklustre”. How about putting a critic in like Simon Thomsen on the panel, as he acquitted himself well on Iron Chef Australia.

Ann-Marie and Nick had their usual babe rapid fire going, and I had to laugh at a comment by regular commenter Culinary Boner giving his interpretation of how the word babe is used.

He wrote:

I am thinking of a submission to the Macquarie Dictionary along the following lines:-

Babe. n. alt meaning colloq, South Australia only… used ironically to mean “dumb arse”, instead of the normal colloq meaning of “hot-stuff”. Appears there are rules though that apply locally with the frequency of usage for this slang term. Said more than 5 times, the meaning shifts to “fuck knuckle”. More than 10 times it becomes “listen here C#NT!!”

Ann-Marie and Nick cooked rolled up whiting, most of the time Nick spent skinning the fish for a garnish, which elicited quite a few babes from his wife. For main it was veal and dessert was the fried custard, which looked particularly unattractive on the plate.

Kane and Lee’s crab larb looked great, but I thought the ribs were a bit simple but Karen Martini did gush over them. The mandarin garnish on their dessert should have resulted in instant elimination at this stage of the competition.

But then Kane and Lee have managed to stumble and bumble their way into the grand final. They got through two eliminations, and just when you thought they would be going, Kel and Ash had to withdraw from the show.

I still don’t think they can beat Sammy and Bella, but then on the previews tonight it looked like Bella implodes.