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New judge vows to cut straight to bone

My Kitchen Rules judges Guy Grossi, Liz Egan, Colin Fassnidge, Karen Martini, Pete Evans and Manu Feildel.


It won't be just Pete Evans and Manu Feildel who will decide the fate of Perth "food nerds" Kieran Reidy and Nastassia Jorre de St Jorre and Victorian cousins Sam Newton and Chris Cavanagh on tonight's My Kitchen Rules.

The guest judging table returns for the first time this year, and joining the smash-hit Seven reality cooking competition is outspoken Irish chef Colin Fassnidge, who will help judge Reidy and Jorre de St Jorre as they go head-to-head with Newton and Cavanagh, in a sudden death cook-off, which will see the fourth team eliminated.

Fassnidge, who replaces Toby Puttock on the guest judging table alongside returning foodies Guy Grossi, Karen Martini and Liz Egan, promised he would be honest and blunt in his judging approach, which might hit a raw nerve with some of the contestants.

"I was hired for not beating around the bush. I don't regret being honest," Fassnidge told AAA. "I am pretty honest and cut straight to the bone - maybe a bit deep sometimes.

"The first criticisms I said to some of the contestants, I forgot I was dealing with real people and that real people's dreams are hanging on this and there is a lot of money involved.

"The first time I walked on to the stage and there were two teams there and you are there to make or break them, that is when I realised 'Whoa, this is big'."

Currently head chef at Sydney's Four in Hand as well as co-owner of 4fourteen, Fassnidge has had a stellar culinary career which led the way to his TV appearances on Ten's MasterChef. He worked for the same esteemed chef, Raymond Blanc, who also taught MasterChef: the Professionals head judge Marco Pierre White.

"I worked at a couple of Michelin star restaurants in Dublin and then I moved to England, worked for Raymond Blanc, who actually trained Marco Pierre White, who is on a different channel," he said with a laugh.

"Then I worked with Gordon Ramsay for a while. So I did all the rounds in England and then moved to Australia."

The 39-year-old father of two said watching MKR had made him realise some of the contestants were nothing like he had thought they were when he was filming, in particular controversial gatecrashers Sophia Pou and Ashlee Pham.

"They just looked like two very nice sweet girls," he said.

"I would see some of the other groups eyeballing them and I would think all these groups are not looking like they are getting on here."

Fassnidge said any new fame would be lost on his fellow chefs.

"My staff are caning me," he said. "They are like 'Mind your hands, TV chef, you don't want to burn yourself', and 'How much make-up do you wear?'

"I am like 'Mate, give me a break'."