My Kitchen Rules New Zealand is currently screening on TV One. We chat to three of the teams from round one about what they bring to the table…
Dan & Christie-Grace – Newlyweds
Still very much in the honeymoon stage, Dunedin newlyweds Dan and Christie-Grace Beck are happy to be competing on MKR – and determined to make the South Island proud. “We love being from the south,” Dan says. “We’re happy to represent it. We just want to bring it!”
The couple, who married last year after knowing each other since they were teenagers, have chosen a Mexican theme for their instant restaurant and are promising a lot of international cuisines, thanks to their shared travels.
But don’t expect to see any game playing from these lovebirds – they much prefer to “keep it real”. Christie-Grace says,“We just really want to be ourselves and stay true to that. We’ll ignore everything else!”
Neil and Tracey are promising a lot of drama and character with their instant restaurant.
Neil & Tracey – Beauty and the Beast
They say they’re “fire and ice” – and Neil Gussey and Tracey Daisley are promising a lot of drama and character with their instant restaurant.
As a fashion photographer and model/make-up artist, who’ve been friends for 24 years, the vibrant pair are focusing on the visual elements of their food and admit they’ll be amping up their polarising personalities.
“We’re glam, a little bit over the top and we’ll stretch things as much as we can,” says Tracey.
“We want to entertain.” Adds Neil, “You can’t sit back. You have to be really strong on the show. We’re not very serious about how we’re portrayed, and I thought that we would be interesting. We’re used to being in control!”
Sam and Dan say technology is going to play a massive part in their MKR journey.
Sam & Dan – Social Media Buddies
They met on micro-blogging site Twitter two years ago and for social media buddies Sam Sutherland and Dan Freeman, technology is going to play a massive part in their MKR journey.
“We’re very new age,” says Sam.
Adds Dan with a laugh, “We’re those people who stand up at the table to take a picture of the food for Instagram. We like to show off what we’re doing… what better way to do that than be on TV?”
The Auckland friends and flatmates hope New Zealand will take a shine to their on-trend cooking and hope to become the team “everyone roots for”.
“We don’t have a strategy, really,” Dan explains. “We just want to come across as cool people.”
