Before this season of MKR had even started, there were reports that one of the teams had been kicked off the show in dramatic fashion, with rumours suggesting that some kind of physical altercation broke out between contestants while at a hotel in Tasmania.
On Wednesday night’s episode, Sonya and Hadil were asked to leave the table by daddy bear Manu Feildel, after getting into a heated verbal confrontation with rival team Jess and Emma and threatening various other contestants.
Today, further details have emerged of what happened behind the scenes, with News Corp reporting that there was a confrontation in a hotel, but claiming that a fight actually went down between Sonya and Hadil and brothers Josh and Nic.
They spoke to an unnamed source close to the production, who said that an incident occurred when Sonya and Hadil were walking down a corridor and overheard some of the other teams talking about them while preparing dinner in a room.
Allegedly, they were upset by what they heard, ,so they knocked on the door. When Josh and Nic answered, an argument broke out that turned into “push and shove” and had other guests on the floor poking their heads out of their doors to see what was going on.
Police were not called, but producers were reportedly concerned about the situation, and tried to “broker peace” between the teams without success.
Channel 7 have since confirmed at least part of the story in a statement to media. Without naming any of the parties involved, they have admitted that a physical fight did break out between MKR contestants, saying:
“While on location in Tasmania, during a break in filming, several members of this year’s teams became involved in an argument which escalated into a physical exchange. This regrettable incident was witnessed by other team members.”
“Over the following days, producers put in considerable effort to rebuild the teams and their relationships with each other. Eventually, it became apparent the situation was beyond repair, resulting in one team being dismissed from the show.”
Sonya and Hadil released a statement of their own yesterday via their official MKR Instagram, accusing Channel 7 of provoking drama for ratings. The pair said:
“There is more to the ‘scandal’ than meets the eye, however we take full responsibility for the words that came out of our mouths and we are sincerely sorry. Like any reality TV show, no one but the people on-set filming 10-14 hour days know exactly what goes on behind the tears, the tension, the smiles, the reactions & the words exchanged.”
“We will not apologise to the network who twisted, provoked and fuelled this entire situation all for ratings. We do however wish to apologise to the viewers for having to witness the situation which should have never gone to air. We wish the remaining teams in the competition the best of luck.”
It is unclear yet whether they will return, although at this point it seems unlikely. While 7 copped criticism for their handling of Sonya and Hadil, last Wednesday’s heavily-hyped episode was a ratings success, pulling in 1.6 million viewers to make it the biggest of the season so far.
