Speaker 1: It's in the news today, but it was actually on TV.
Speaker 2: Reload, the podcast last Deep Neby.
Speaker 1: Hey guys, welcome back to TV Reload. I want to
Speaker 1: thank you for clicking and downloading on today's episode with
Speaker 1: Colin Fastenedje from MKR, which starts this week on Channel seven.
Speaker 1: I always love catching up with Colin and today is
Speaker 1: just as fun as any other time that you get
Speaker 1: to have a yarn with him. Colin will share why
Speaker 1: each season is different and what to expect from this
Speaker 1: late season. We talk about everyone from Pete Evans to
Speaker 1: Manu and how Colin keeps his chemistry fresh with his
Speaker 1: long standing co host. I will also discuss the villain
Speaker 1: edit on reality shows and find out why Colin was
Speaker 1: called a villain for years. On MKR, you will get
Speaker 1: basically everything from who Colin's favorite contestant is this year,
Speaker 1: two answers about his future on the show. There is
Speaker 1: so much to talk about with so many inside revelations,
Speaker 1: So guys sit back and relax as we unpack the
Speaker 1: wonderful world of MKR Australia. Hi, Colin, how are you?
Speaker 2: I'm very well.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to another season of MKR. Yeah, Bigger and
Speaker 1: Better bigger and better, which is so good. Do you
Speaker 1: ever think this will be my last season? Or do
Speaker 1: you just think that this is your life for the
Speaker 1: rest of your life?
Speaker 2: Every year I think that because it's TV's one of
Speaker 2: those worlds you're in and then you're not in. So
Speaker 2: every year I do it. I say, how lucky am
Speaker 2: I to get to do this?
Speaker 1: And then you ask for more money.
Speaker 2: There's no more money out there, bro not on this
Speaker 2: day and age.
Speaker 1: You know, when it comes to making this show, all
Speaker 1: of the seasons feel quite different, you know. I was
Speaker 1: actually tapping back into episodes of seasons gone by, and
Speaker 1: each season kind of has its own flavor.
Speaker 2: It does. Some flavors were sweet, somewhat a little bit sour.
Speaker 2: I think we've got the perfect recipe now, especially after
Speaker 2: me and mine who coming together full time last year.
Speaker 2: We've sort of worked out, you know, what works well,
Speaker 2: and I think we've got a groove now.
Speaker 1: How would you describe the flavor then of this season
Speaker 1: for Australia who hasn't had a chance to see it.
Speaker 2: Yet, I would say it's what would a fun flavor be,
Speaker 2: Like a fruity flavor with a little bit of spice
Speaker 2: and a tinge of sour, which is which is a
Speaker 2: good mix because you don't want too much of the soeur.
Speaker 1: No, you don't want it.
Speaker 2: But what I will say is from the first night
Speaker 2: I walked in, which is the odd where you see
Speaker 2: Hannah scream. That's the first moment we met the table
Speaker 2: and that take. Normally they take a while to warble.
Speaker 2: This team was on. It was like a volcano. They
Speaker 2: were all just firing and we were just we just
Speaker 2: sat there and was like, Wow, this is going to
Speaker 2: be a great season.
Speaker 1: Hannah's a little bit like social lubricant, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean.
Speaker 2: Like she's like as she's a beautiful girl, but she's
Speaker 2: very loud.
Speaker 1: But do you know that her best friends her grandmother,
Speaker 1: And you've now worked out that the reason why her
Speaker 1: best friends her grandmother is because her grandma needs hearing
Speaker 1: aids and she probably turns.
Speaker 2: We sometimes I wish I either hear a a how goold?
Speaker 1: Would that be just between takes? You could just turn
Speaker 1: it down, but just maybe left on the channel with
Speaker 1: Minu to hear what's going on with him?
Speaker 2: Well, I can't understand him, so it doesn't really matter.
Speaker 1: You know, last year, a lot of viewers complained though,
Speaker 1: that the show was too short, that it's too short
Speaker 1: these days. I don't know if you read that, but
Speaker 1: it would have to be one of the most positive
Speaker 1: negative comments I've ever read about a show.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, because that does all the shows and
Speaker 2: all the channels that go for six months and they're
Speaker 2: only building a cupboard or something logo or a wall.
Speaker 2: I think you'll be pleasantly surprised with this season. That's
Speaker 2: all I'm going to say. There is so many twists
Speaker 2: and turns in this in a positive way. People would
Speaker 2: be happy this year. Someone will complain and about something
Speaker 2: burn in my hair. I cut my hair. It's a bit.
Speaker 2: It was a bit longer then.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I know. I always been there for your
Speaker 1: hair because I always I'd love for my hair to
Speaker 1: be able to do what your hair does. But everyone
Speaker 1: always wants what someone else's hair is doing, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean, Like, you'd probably prefer to have some
Speaker 1: straight hair by now.
Speaker 2: I tried the straight hair. I look like a lego
Speaker 2: man did work?
Speaker 1: How long were you shooting for this year? Was it
Speaker 1: a longer shoot than last year?
Speaker 2: All I'm going to say is it's a longer shoot. Okay,
Speaker 2: so we as they say, like a politician, we have
Speaker 2: listened to the people.
Speaker 1: Okay. I like that, and people listening to this podcast
Speaker 1: will be excited about that. Because people were even riding
Speaker 1: into me like I'm some sort of complaint network, and
Speaker 1: I was like, you know what, it's a good thing.
Speaker 1: They left you wanting more.
Speaker 2: People were stopping me in the supermarket and complaining, and
Speaker 2: I'm like, I am a small cog in a giant whale.
Speaker 2: Tell the wheel.
Speaker 1: I think it's because they're comparing it to back in
Speaker 1: the day when you know, Pete Evans and everyone was
Speaker 1: there and it was long. Oh I know you're still
Speaker 1: talking to him.
Speaker 2: Pete's a friend of mine. Is good people's But them
Speaker 2: days worth like six months on the road, and I
Speaker 2: think that was fourteen seasons ago, and I came on
Speaker 2: like the third year, so I was in my forties
Speaker 2: May and my now fifty one. The work life balance,
Speaker 2: you've got to sort of get on top of it,
Speaker 2: because we're we're on the road a lot. And all
Speaker 2: I'm saying is we're on the road a lot longer
Speaker 2: this year than last year. You know, you missed your family,
Speaker 2: you miss your kids, You're like I missed my daughter's
Speaker 2: netball final, I missed a birthday party. But that's that's
Speaker 2: work on the road, you know.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they all understand that though, because there's the novelty
Speaker 1: of your celebrity dad.
Speaker 2: They don't. That's the problem. My kids have asked me
Speaker 2: to give up TV, have they because I'm cringe.
Speaker 1: How old are your kids now? Are they at that
Speaker 1: age where they're like, oh, dad, please go away.
Speaker 2: If this goes to prince, I'm going to name them.
Speaker 2: So it's Lily May fast and shoes thirteen and Lily
Speaker 2: fastening shoes fifteen next week and they go to Saint Claire's.
Speaker 2: So everyone embarrassed my daughters.
Speaker 1: You know, I can tell you from the trajectory of
Speaker 1: knowing people that have celebrity parents, there is this teenage
Speaker 1: era where they think it's really cringe. But then later
Speaker 1: on they do come back, and that's when you've got
Speaker 1: to cut them off because then they might become a
Speaker 1: little bit too obsessed with you.
Speaker 2: Do you know what I did. I made them lie
Speaker 2: on the floor the to day. Why I said, look
Speaker 2: at the roof the low worse because that's what's paying
Speaker 2: for it, so it'll be quiet.
Speaker 1: Do you want to go to a good school? Come on? Yeah.
Speaker 1: I always think of home cooking to be very personal,
Speaker 1: and I actually think having people into your home can
Speaker 1: also be quite revealing when it comes to finding out
Speaker 1: people's real personalities, and I think that's where MKR really shines.
Speaker 1: Do you think this show showcases the contestants in a
Speaker 1: way that's different to say, other cooking shows.
Speaker 2: I don't think there is any other cooking shows. When
Speaker 2: I'm watch them, there's onus. And but I mean, like,
Speaker 2: look at last year we had Rada and Fraba who
Speaker 2: actually took out the show, and they tell us deep
Speaker 2: and personal stories and I end up crying on national television.
Speaker 2: And that's not my That's not my style. Sometimes food
Speaker 2: is a great conveyor of I actually I can't remember
Speaker 2: who it was. Well, they did a rose lamb dish
Speaker 2: and I hate the crackling from the lamb, and it
Speaker 2: immediately transported me back to age twelve. In my I
Speaker 2: was my dad cooking on a Sunday morning because he
Speaker 2: always did roslam. So food has always got those stories,
Speaker 2: and just when you think you know everything, another story
Speaker 2: pops up, or another method of cookery or that's that's
Speaker 2: the beauty of food.
Speaker 1: I always wonder about the fact that you know, you
Speaker 1: mentioned last year's winners. You know, we've had so many
Speaker 1: seasons of MKR. Do you kind of feel in some
Speaker 1: way that you pick up new children because we're talking
Speaker 1: about your own real children. But you know, by doing
Speaker 1: this season, i'd imagine you, knowing you as well as
Speaker 1: I do, that you would still keep the phone open
Speaker 1: and still keep talking to these one.
Speaker 2: Hundred percent Like I've caught up with Dan and Steph
Speaker 2: and then they actually had their they from their winnings,
Speaker 2: they actually got IVS and had their baby. And there's
Speaker 2: a lot of contestants still talk to there's so much
Speaker 2: of your block. Well, there's a lot you still talk to.
Speaker 2: You're like a school teacher.
Speaker 1: I mean, my mum's a school teacher and she would
Speaker 1: never talk to the kids ever again. She would always
Speaker 1: think it's true she loved the naughty kids. My mom
Speaker 1: would always say, I love I loved the naughty kids,
Speaker 1: and she would be so in died and then they
Speaker 1: would come up to her years later and she would
Speaker 1: be like, oh no, I can't talk.
Speaker 2: Yeah, your more more to love me.
Speaker 1: Yeah she did. I was the naughty kid. So I
Speaker 1: think it was you know, her having to look after
Speaker 1: the naughty kids's payback for what I was doing to
Speaker 1: the other teachers in the neighboring classrooms. What is your actually,
Speaker 1: that's a good question. What is the best advice you
Speaker 1: can offer for people who are coming into this show,
Speaker 1: because I know when people are applying, they always want
Speaker 1: some tips on what's probably going to get them across
Speaker 1: the line.
Speaker 2: I think like, be you, because a lot of people
Speaker 2: get in there and then think they have to put
Speaker 2: on a shell or airs and racism, try and be
Speaker 2: someone else or impress. And I think most of the
Speaker 2: people who've downed and worn have stayed true to themselves.
Speaker 2: There's always a couple of shell ponies who exit pretty quick.
Speaker 2: And it is a cooking show, and so I put
Speaker 2: love into your cooking. That's what it's about. That's what
Speaker 2: gets you over the line. You can talk it over
Speaker 2: good game all you want, but if you don't produce
Speaker 2: food with love that tastes good.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, you know this show has gone away. I feel
Speaker 1: I mean, you still have your polarizing personalities, but I
Speaker 1: do feel like you've sort of drifted away from villainous contestants.
Speaker 1: And I'm curious about what you think of the media
Speaker 1: calling people villains on reality shows, because you've probably had
Speaker 1: a few polarizing people. But do you think that's stereotype
Speaker 1: and calling someone a villain?
Speaker 2: Mate? I was called a villain of MKR for the
Speaker 2: first four years. I did it because I was opinionated,
Speaker 2: and I think when the media jumps in and calls
Speaker 2: people villains, they were probably the people I got on
Speaker 2: with the most because they were like myself, They had
Speaker 2: an opinion, and they were in beige and I'm not
Speaker 2: really into beije people. So yeah, as you say to
Speaker 2: Charlotte moved away. Myself and Manu had a big impact
Speaker 2: in Inda as in saying we don't want to be
Speaker 2: part of this because it got to a stage years
Speaker 2: ago where my wife would let me kids watch a
Speaker 2: show that I worked six months on and I'm like, well,
Speaker 2: what who am I doing this for? What's the point.
Speaker 2: So we made a conscious decision, as did the network,
Speaker 2: and after COVID, people don't want this, you know, horribleness,
Speaker 2: and they want niceness, and that's what food is about,
Speaker 2: is niceness. Obviously there will be conflict over at dinner
Speaker 2: table make Christmas dinner at your house. Dot's conflict over
Speaker 2: at dinner table, but then you resolve it, you move.
Speaker 1: On, and you then move on to the pudding, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean? Like, I think you want to
Speaker 1: end with something as much sweeter. I think that the
Speaker 1: evolution of this show is very interesting because there were
Speaker 1: some very high rating seasons when the show was about
Speaker 1: polarizing characters in a bit of drama, and it kind
Speaker 1: of has moved in a different direction to that. And
Speaker 1: if you speak to the true MKR fans, they are
Speaker 1: loving this evolution. They're kind of liking where it has gone.
Speaker 1: And maybe you're right, maybe I think it.
Speaker 2: Do you know what it is? It's because me and
Speaker 2: my new one L fifty one, same age, we've both
Speaker 2: got like teenagers as kids, and it's how do you
Speaker 2: want to be reflected and what you want them to see?
Speaker 2: You know what I mean? It's like what's going into
Speaker 2: their head is as good as what's going into your body,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree, I agree. I'm in the chemistry as well.
Speaker 1: Just talking about you two being in your fifties, I
Speaker 1: think that the chemistry is almost better every year that
Speaker 1: we see you guys together. I'm curious about how you
Speaker 1: invest in making sure that still happens, because, like you know,
Speaker 1: with any work colleague, you can sort of fall out
Speaker 1: with them, and when your vision you really can't because
Speaker 1: you need it to still be good. What do you
Speaker 1: do to try and massage? The menu massaging? And I'm
Speaker 1: just trying to get that out of my head, but
Speaker 1: I actually my massage. Now do you say, yesterday we
Speaker 1: went to this place in New Zealand because we're in
Speaker 1: New Zealand together at the minute, and I actually had
Speaker 1: to put some play on them.
Speaker 2: We had a clay Bart massage. I think it's like
Speaker 2: any we say, well, like a married coup or whatever
Speaker 2: the benefits put it that way. We're on the road
Speaker 2: eight months together and there's always times it's touchy and
Speaker 2: you know when to say something and when not to
Speaker 2: say something. We live beside each other, we have Christmas
Speaker 2: together and get on which is a problem because you know,
Speaker 2: you know when they get it, when they get on
Speaker 2: the sauce, we just get nails. Well, of course, so
Speaker 2: we are, we're friends and we work together and then
Speaker 2: but also when we get onto the MK, it's a job.
Speaker 2: Like people say, oh, you're so looking like there's so
Speaker 2: much trouble goes in the crew? Are there a lot
Speaker 2: before us and a lot later than us? So like
Speaker 2: we've got the easy bit. So when you get in there,
Speaker 2: you do the job, be a professional. And if you
Speaker 2: can't do that, don't do the show.
Speaker 1: Yeah, go and do something else? What about just before
Speaker 1: you go? I need to ask you, can you I
Speaker 1: know people don't like playing favorites, they really don't, but
Speaker 1: I really need you too, because I want you to
Speaker 1: tease what's happening this year? Do you have a favorite contestant?
Speaker 1: And if you can't say that, can you tell me.
Speaker 2: Who you do? I do and I will tell you.
Speaker 2: So we've got Mike and Pete. Right, Mike looks like
Speaker 2: pee wee harmon, remember that guy from years ago? Very much.
Speaker 2: Mike has got Mel filter. And there was days I
Speaker 2: would I would wake up in the morning and go,
Speaker 2: I'm tired, like do I really want to go to work?
Speaker 2: And then I got Mike's going to be there. So Mike,
Speaker 2: Mike and Mel filter. And at the start, I'm going,
Speaker 2: this little guy's gonna wind me up. And by the
Speaker 2: end I was like, Mike, come in and give me
Speaker 2: a home.
Speaker 1: That's the best I actually been. I'm up to episode five. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm obsessed. I mean, I did love Hannah when she
Speaker 1: was on Big Brother, so I kind of know her
Speaker 1: from that and seeing her come onto this show, so
Speaker 1: you know, I feel like she's in the Big Brother family,
Speaker 1: so I have to be saying that. She's also pretty good.
Speaker 2: So I didn't know she was on that show, which
Speaker 2: is probably good.
Speaker 1: Talk about that because I think it's great because we
Speaker 1: don't really remember her being on that show and we
Speaker 1: get fresh take.
Speaker 2: On her being in this Yeah, Hannah's a great girl.
Speaker 2: Because I got daughters and all that, you sort of
Speaker 2: want to look after them, but she was a good girl.
Speaker 1: Before you go. The last thing I ask everyone joins
Speaker 1: the Pods the last question, what is something from behind
Speaker 1: the scenes of this year this season, something like a
Speaker 1: behind the scenes secret or crazy anecdote.
Speaker 2: What have you got for me behind the scenes? Well, me,
Speaker 2: me and money. You have to spend a lot of
Speaker 2: time in a trailer together at the bank on time.
Speaker 2: Wouldn't taught it. And he you know those campra vans
Speaker 2: where you got the bit where you sleep on the top, Yeah,
Speaker 2: he would sleep in there. In between takes a.
Speaker 1: Snare if they leave his microphone on, no.
Speaker 2: One wants to hear him snore, snore and fast.
Speaker 1: Well that's a different show. I have to say, I
Speaker 1: absolutely love always talking to you. Are so real, you're
Speaker 1: so genuine, and you're so fun on this show. So
Speaker 1: thank you for taking the time and being so generous
Speaker 1: with it and talking to me today, and good luck
Speaker 1: with the season.
Speaker 2: Leisure, thanks for your support.
Speaker 1: Maybe talk to chat to you next year, roll around
Speaker 1: again
Speaker 2: Hopefully see you again, See you mate,