Cheats! That was Josh's cry after My Kitchen Rules revealed that Matt and Alyse used pre-made, store bought red curry paste to cook their main dish of the evening.
And #MatttheRat and #AlysetheSnake have done little to endear themselves to viewers, with the Brisbane 'fashions of the field' couple being self-described bitchy and competitive perfectionists: "We are winners... the word loser doesn't come into our vocabulary."
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MKR: Curry paste scandal
Alyse and Matt are busted using a pre-prepared curry paste in what is being described as My Kitchen Rules curry-paste-gate. Vision courtesy Channel Seven
Matt starts the day bragging that they'll "raise the bar", while Alyse is letting it be known that they can handle any critique (just maybe not the one coming), "we're going to bring it..." in a bottle.
"We're not sure what the view from the top is like just yet but I'm sure we will after tonight," says a cocky Matt.
Wannabe Melburnian racegoer, Alyse, backs their odds, saying: "We are comfortable wearing that winners' sash and being on the winners' podium so ideally that's where we would like to be at the end of tonight."
"Let's face it, I don't like Alyse and Matt and I want something to go so wrong in there that they'll find have a bit of pity for every other person sitting around that table and understand what it's like," Josh tells the camera.
"Our mate Josh would do anything he possibly could, in his power, to stay in the competition," Matt says to Alyse during the prep.
"I don't care what Josh thinks about my food to be honest he turned out a really bad meal and he said that he was going to serve the best seafood I have ever had and you know I vomited in his restaurant," Alyse snorts.
![Caught out: Alyse and Matt know they will be scored harshly by MKR guests for 'cheating'.](/web/20170221151745im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/g/v/v/7/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gugw02.png/1487650102560.jpg)
On being presented with Alyse's instant restaurant, which is named after Melbourne Cup's "high end marquee" Birdcage, Josh comments privately: "I just find it a little bit tacky and fake; a little bit like Alyse."
Even judge Pete Evans remains skeptical over the pair's capabilities, saying: "Can they walk the walk, like they talk the talk?"
![Oh no they didn't: Matt and Alyse caught in a cage, just not the Birdcage that they named their MKR instant restaurant after.](/web/20170221151745im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/g/x/t/1/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gugw02.png/1487650102560.jpg)
But Josh's barbs are not only aimed at his arch nemeses, with him squaring off against Della-Lama and Asher Keddie (Tully) over their cooking prowess.
As Keddie reminds him of what a kettle and pot looks like, to much laughter around the table, Josh retorts: "I'm just talking to Della here."
![Asher Keddie delivers a 'back in your box' blow to Josh at the MKR dinner table.](/web/20170221151745im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/g/z/u/6/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gugw02.png/1487650102560.jpg)
"I don't think he can deal with a woman talking back," pacifist Courtney confides to show producers.
"No, you don't like talking to me do ya," notes Keddie at the table.
!['And you're happy to use this?': Pete Evans has busted the pair's curry paste shortcut for main.](/web/20170221151745im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/h/0/w/m/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gugw02.png/1487650102560.jpg)
Hardly a model gentleman, Josh tells viewers: "I don't care what Tully has to say, I haven't heard anything intelligent come out of Tully's mouth."
Meanwhile Matt and Alyse's simple pork san choy bow entree gets a "Not a lot to fault" from Pete, but Manu says he's the "sauce guy" and that's what he wants. "Bring it on, it is awkward to eat, it is dripping everywhere and that's how you have to eat it."
![Hang on, 'that's an instant zero': Josh and Amy get sweet revenge on Matt and Alyse on MKR.](/web/20170221151745im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/g/v/v/q/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gugw02.png/1487650102560.jpg)
Although Josh does not surprise with his 'I'm unimpressed' critique of entree, he at least admits to the judges that he would love Matt and Alyse to drop their main on the floor as "that's the only thing that's going to keep us in the competition".
The duo may as well have dropped their so-called satay beef, which in fact is a red curry stir fry dressed in peanuts, after Pete's visit to the kitchen makes clear that they have taken a "massive shortcut" using pre-made paste.
![Pete Evans is 'not happy' on MKR.](/web/20170221151745im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/g/v/w/7/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gugw02.png/1487650102560.jpg)
"I know that using red curry paste is a big risk but I think that the flavours are really beautiful," Alyse justifies to Matt. Yeah, because they're not your flavours.
Why they believe they can serve non-satay beef to Asian guests just amazes. "I can tell straight away that it's not satay sauce. It's too dark in colour and it's too watery," says Albert Lau.
!['Clutching at straws': The other MKR guests are not buying Josh's cheating talk.](/web/20170221151745im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/h/3/1/6/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gugw02.png/1487650102560.jpg)
"We're not fans of the super, super peanuty flavour," says Alyse, which elicits a snigger from Amy.
"Just because you sprinkle some peanuts over the top and call it a satay, it's not," berates Manu, who is married to a Malaysian-Australian. "...I really expected a lot more from you guys."
![The MKR final face off, or as Seven likes to title it 'Clash of the Titans'.](/web/20170221151745im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/h/4/y/c/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gugw02.png/1487650102560.jpg)
And now for Pete's "not happy, Jan" moment as he makes the couple reveal their store-bought shortcut to the table. "This is a cooking competition and we expect you to cook the basic elements from scratch ... we're looking for cooking from the heart and not from the jar."
Josh says gleefully: "I knew Alyse was a snake and it's good to see her true colours come out... I don't think the snake can slither her way out of this one."
Matt believes it's an #alternativefacts moment where "maybe there's some discrepancy between different chefs in the way in which they interpret satay".
"Alyse and Matt for this main course have cheated. That's an instant zero for me as far as I'm concerned," Judge Josh delivers.
When Keddie raises Josh's suggestion of cheating at the table, Kelsey quickly disagrees: "No I don't, I think that all the other elements you have to give them a chance."
Josh however feels the dish should be disqualified or at least penalised. "Now I'm questioning if they're even good cooks."
Courtney refuses to believe it's cheating, with Keddie agreeing: "I don't think their intention was to cheat."
In delivering dessert, Matt thought he would be dishing out his resilience, "They had better give us some respect after this", but it turned out that the panna cotta was just resilient to being dished.
To Josh's disappointment their dessert did "bounce us back" with the judges and guests.
"As I put my spoon though the panna cotta and taste it, I just find our hopes of getting off the bottom of the leader board just diminishing. And I'm not too happy about that. I'm really going to enjoy giving them a low score if that's going to put us on top."
So despite an earlier deal for Josh's score to trump Amy's say-so, Matt and Alyse were spared a zero because Amy rightly pointed out "that's just too harsh".
The other guests swayed between four and fives, while Amy and Josh settled on a one; which gave Matt and Alyse a still "brutal" guest score of 19/50.
Even the judges gave a generous one each for the disastrous main, and sevens and eights for the other dishes; taking the grand total to 52/110.
This means the arch-nemeses will have to face off at MKR headquarters to see who will be eliminated.
"I could not be any happier right now, I'm not even hiding it from Alyse and Matt," says Josh, with Amy saying: "There is no other team I would like to annihilate more."
But Alyse isn't scared. "I don't think Josh and Amy stand much of a chance against us and the skills that we know that we have."
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