They’re the much-loved mother-daughter team taking My Kitchen Rules by storm – but Valerie and Courtney reveal their relationship was put to the test on the hit cooking show.
While the powerhouse Brisbane team say they are ‘very close’, they admit they found the pressures of filming and having to live with each other incredibly demanding.
‘I moved out of home years ago, and after doing MKR, I now remember why,’ 30-year-old Courtney tells New Idea.
‘Mum can be direct – direct with respect is what I call it. She sometimes just thinks I’m still 12.
‘But spending every waking second with Mum, even sleeping in the same hotel room… it was tough.’
Valerie agrees there were some conflicts between the pair, but says she’s learnt some valuable lessons from their disagreements.
‘Courtney and I get along very well together, but we both have pretty big personalities so a few times there were some fireworks,’ she admits.
Despite the highs and lows, the pair’s relationship is stronger than ever, and they wouldn’t have done the show with anyone else.
‘The MKR experience was great, more than we expected. Obviously it’s stressful and demanding, and you’re being put in difficult situations all the time, but we had such a great experience,’ Courtney says.
‘I’d do it 10 times over – especially with Mum. It brought us closer together.’
Read the full story in this week’s New Idea, on sale now.
