Right from the offset on last night’s episode of My Kitchen Rules, tensions where high at Casa Del Dee and Tim.
Though they were all smiles and smooches before the show, their Spanish inspired menu proved a little more testing than they had anticipated.
Apparently the pressure was too much for Dee, who was shown berating Tim over breadcrumbs, and speaking to him in what could reasonably be described as an intensely patronising tone. “Look at me,” she said, after Tim had evidently made one too many mistakes. “Don’t do anything else.”
Viewers were quick to jump on social media and share their thoughts about the couples interactions, none of them complimentary.
While several Twitter users appeared to find some humour in the situation, calling for fans to #PutYourApronsOut for Tim, and starting the trending topic #SaveTim, others found Dee’s treatment of her husband pretty terrible, and even suggested the couple should file for divorce.
“Who wants to crowdfund for a new set of balls for Tim?” wrote one fan. “Or refer him to a good divorce lawyer…#SaveTim #MKR.”
“Get yourself a tray, get yourself some flour, get yourself a new wife #MKR” wrote another.
Want to know what goes on behind the scenes of a real MKR dinner party? Rosie Waterland finds out…
Several more viewers expressed legitimate concerns over the health of the Dee and Tim’s relationship, the term “abuse” was used frequently.
One twitter user even suggested that if the gender roles were reversed, the interaction between partners would be deemed inappropriate for broadcast, stating “This abuse is actually making me feel uncomfortable. If the genders were swapped it wouldn’t be shown @mykitchenrules bad form#MKR”
Of course, as always, there was also an abundance of social media commentary on the quality (Or lack there of) of the cooking. Come on, you have to admit that soup looked pretty terrible.
Spurred on by the show’s official Twitter page, the hastag #Deesaster also got a bit of action last night
The couple scored abysmally for their Spanish selection, and if many viewers have their way, will be booted out at the next elimination.
If you’re after a quick and easy recipe that’s impossible to stuff up (even under pressure) check out Dani Venn’s recipe for Lamb Shank Rendang curry:
Top Comments
I'm glad that I'm not the only one who felt really uncomfortable and actually quite upset watching MKR last night. I'm disappointed that it was shown on national television - whether it was edited/scripted or not - that sort of behaviour by one person to another makes me feel sick (regardless of gender, abuse is abuse). Putting down her husband like that repeatedly and making him look pathetic and useless, it was pure viewing horror! I would be absolutely ashamed and I don't see how either Dee or Tim can walk away from this experience feeling positive. And that has nothing to do with the fact that their food failed.
I won't make a judgment on the state of their marriage because it's clear he loves her a lot, even if we cannot understand why. But for Dee to publicly shame and blame him in the cruellest way possible and not give Tim any hope of defending himself was pretty heartbreaking.
Best case scenario: if it WAS edited by producers to look worse than what it really was (i.e. maybe Tim did fight back but they didn't show it, or maybe Dee's entire conduct was a big joke) then I'm utterly disgusted and reality TV has lost any sense of pride or boundaries, particularly for a cooking show like MKR which could previously be enjoyed by the whole family.
Encourage healthy relationships - don't celebrate hurtful actions and words for the sake of entertainment. Please Channel 7, you made a big mistake.
(Sorry for the essay!)
Abuse is abuse, the gender is irrelevant. Awful woman and I hope she has no children, the poor things would be walking on eggshells.