Knives and forks at the ready, fanatical foodies Manu Feildel, Pete Evans and Colin Fassnidge can’t wait for the start of the hot new season of My Kitchen Rules, which will see some exciting changes to Australia’s favourite cooking show.
Ahead of the show’s big premiere next Monday, January 29, Pete Evans has taken some time out to speak exclusively to New Idea.
You seem about as contented as a man can be…
Life on earth is pretty idyllic, I’ll tell you that right now. My family is beautiful. Being a dad and a husband is the greatest gift and it’s pretty cool having a role on one of Australia’s number one shows as well. I’m grateful for every day I get to be part of it. I don’t really have much time for anything else, outside work and family.
Do you spend a lot of time on your farm, when you’re not working?
Yes, it’s a pretty special spot on the Far North Coast of NSW. We’ve got 25 acres with horses, chickens, a dog, cats and bees. We’ve planted a whole lot of native trees to hopefully create a koala sanctuary with other locals. We want to restore the ecosystem as it once was and bring back more native wildlife, more birds, more bugs. Instead of take, take, take, it’s nice to give back to the land.
You describe your wife Nicola as your soulmate?
We make a great team, a wonderful team, actually. We are also powerful individuals. I think that’s the ideal for any relationship, that you grow as a couple but as individuals as well. It’s the only way a relationship can work.
How did you meet?
We just met organically about six or seven years ago. I believe in the present moment and at that particular time, that present moment was exactly as it was meant to be. We both realise the magic of that moment, and of every moment since.
Would you like to have a child together?
If it eventuates, it would be a wonderful gift – and if it doesn’t, that would also be a wonderful gift. I don’t think there is anything negative that can be placed upon it either way. We are just living in the moment.
Will you come back for another season of MKR?
Oh s***, yeah! I still love it. It’s a wonderful opportunity for me to grow, as well as the contestants. If I wasn’t growing through MKR and learning things about myself, I wouldn’t keep doing it. But it’s an ongoing examination of self in relation to others. It really helps me to understand myself a lot better. It’s a great mirror for me.
What are your favourite moments on the show?
When people come in and they don’t have that self-con dence to start with, but you see them standing there on grand nal day, with a chance to win it. That dream for those people really hits home, and whether they win or not doesn’t really matter, because they have made it. The wonderful thing about
the competition is that it changes everyone who enters.
Does it upset you that some doctors have criticised The Paleo Way program?
Not at all. I can only speak the truth and maybe they can one day too. I will continue to speak the truth because I’m helping so many people. I have shared thousands of stories to prove it. More than 50,000 people have done my online program and not one of them would say that it’s in any way dangerous or hasn’t been helpful.
For all the latest My Kitchen Rules news, catch this weeks issue of New Idea – out now!
