There were two very noticeable absences from Sunday night’s grand final – the Jordanian friends Sonya and Hadil.
The disgraced team did not join the rest of the teams at Kitchen Headquarters, after being booted from the competition for aggressive behaviour at the Ultimate Instant Restaurant round.
And now New Idea can reveal that Sonya, 35, and Hadil, 30, have fled their homes to escape fierce criticism, as the series comes to a close.
Sonya escaped to Bali with a friend, posting a number of photos to Instagram along with cryptic messages about getting away from everything.
‘Sometimes you’ve just got to put your feet up and do nothing but admire the world for all its beauty,’ she wrote.
Meanwhile, mother-of-two Hadil recently spent time in tropical paradise Port Douglas – a one-hour drive from her home in Cairns.
‘Don’t allow someone to make you feel like you’re not good enough,’ she posted to her Instagram account.
The fiery pair went head-to-head with Sydney sisters Jess and Emma in a series of stoushes at the table, and were also involved in an off-camera scuffle that saw them booted from the competition.
Judge Manu Feildel confirmed to New Idea that Sonya and Hadil haven’t apologised to either him or Pete Evans for the way they behaved on the show.
‘To be honest with you, I’m not interested,’ Manu says.
‘I don’t care what excuses there are. They were amazing cooks and that’s what’s the most upsetting, is that if they just get kept their mouths shut and kept on doing the cooking, they probably would have gotten to the end. They had a good chance, for sure.’
Meanwhile, Jess and Emma are more forgiving of their former arch rivals.
‘Go easy on them,’ Jess begs fans of the show.
‘We just want it to be over and done with, and no-one deserves their life to be ripped apart. We’ve been through enough and we know how **** it is being attacked by people.
For the full story see this weeks issue of New Idea – out now!
