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Coming into the cook-off between Group 1’s Amy and Alex and Group 2’s Georgie and Alicia on Sunday night, fashion company CEO Sonya Mefaddi and her childhood friend Hadil Sadeq made it clear they were backing their competition besties. “I want to see Georgie and Alicia in the finals,” Hadil said at the elimination house dinner table, explaining how she thought the sisters, with whom they had become close, were the best team on My Kitchen Rules.
When others reacted in shock, Hadil responded, “I just want everyone to be fair—that’s why I’m so fired up.”
Throughout the meal, Sonya and Hadil continued to lavish praise for Georgie and Alicia’s dishes whilst finding fault in Alex and Emily’s meals. When Melbourne accountant Suong Pham, who admitted earlier she hadn’t had many experiences with fine dining, questioned the thickness of the tuna in Georgie and Alicia’s main, Sonya defended the presentation. “Seriously? Is that really fine dining for you?” Suong asked, holding up a piece of fish. When Sonya said it was, Suong retorted, “Why do you talk to me like I’m stupid? I don’t do fine dining.” Sonya hit back, “I’m not talking to you like you’re stupid, honey.”
In an interview for the camera, Hadil remarks, “Thank God she doesn’t go out fine dining,” while Sonya replies, “Wouldn’t be able to afford it.”
Back at the table, when Sonya is trying to think of a word to describe why she doesn’t like Alex and Emily’s lamb sauce, Suong asks if she was thinking “salty,” and then chuckles. “There’s no need to laugh,” Sonya replies. When Suong tries to back away from an argument, declaring, “Guys, I don’t have time for you like that,” Hadil goes on the attack, telling Suong how rude it is to laugh at others. That causes Perth waitress Stella Cain to tell Hadil not to point.
Why did the evening devolve that way for Sonya and Hadil? “Just being passionate about food for us was a big deal,” Hadil tells WHO, “and we wanted to make sure that no team went home if they were incredible cooks.”
Hadil also concedes, “I think there was just a lot of strategic playing at the time and it was very upsetting, so we went in there very upset and emotions were high.”
As for Sonya’s quip about Suong’s income, Sonya says it doesn’t reflect who she is outside of the show. “I am definitely not materialistic,” she tells WHO. “I may come across that way. But I’m definitely not. Yes, I work hard, and yes, I like to spoil myself from time to time. But if someone needs help, I’ll be the first one to turn around and help them. That’s the kind of person that I am.”
One thing that is real, the women say, is their friendship with Georgie and Alicia Chau, who ultimately did come up short in the cook-off and were eliminated. “Those girls are so beautiful from the inside and outside and it was hard to see them go that way,” Hadil says. “We talk all the time. We are very, very good friends and we gained a sisterhood.”
In fact, Georgie tells WHO that for her wedding coming up in August, “Hadil’s actually going to be doing my hair and makeup.”
Looking back on the eventful elimination night, Hadil says, “Even if Alex and Emily did cook better, it would have been heartbreaking because I would have had to send Georgie and Alicia home because it was the food that we wanted to shine at the end of the day.”
To read about Sonya’s achievement in making her company Fashion Palette a success, pick up the latest issue of WHO on newsstands today.
‘My Kitchen Rules’ continues this week from Monday through Wednesday at 7.30 PM on Seven.
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