Colin Fassnidge and Manu Feildel might be close friends now, but that wasn’t always the case.
Speaking on The Dom Harvey podcast, the My Kitchen Rules judges revealed the extent of their rivalry.
Colin, 52, admitted that he started the feud, but denied it was fuelled by jealousy.
“It was ego. Well, is that jealousy? It was ego. Young chef, young and dumb, who was firing from a hill, machine-gunning at everybody,” he explained.
Colin famously mocked Manu’s media career on social media, after some traditional chefs accused the French star of selling out by becoming a TV celebrity.
“I’m not being negative, but I think the thing with Colin is that he doesn’t have a filter sometimes,” Manu said.
“So he’s going to say what he thinks, and then he’s like, ‘Oh, I shouldn’t have said that.’ But it’s out in the world, and it’s too late to swallow it back.”
After Manu signed up for Dancing With The Stars, Colin, who said he declined offers to appear on the show five times, blasted him for still calling himself a full-time chef.
“I remember it clearly like it was yesterday,” Manu said, laughing.
“You know why it was hurtful? I didn’t even know the guy. That’s why. If I knew the guy, I probably would’ve laughed at it.”
Manu said the criticism contributed to him feeling rejected in the food industry over his decision to pursue both cooking and television.
Do Colin and Manu get along?
However, a resolution came in the most unlikely of places for Colin and Manu: on a TV show.
When Colin was lined up to be a judge on My Kitchen Rules, he was actually set to replace Manu, who had been considering leaving.
“I was going to let the job go,” Manu shared.
“I was going through a separation, I was running a restaurant, and I was on the road for six months of the year, and it became too much for me, and I just basically said to my agent, ‘I can’t do all of this, I’m done. I’ve got to let one thing go’, and I think TV was going to be the thing, because I was a chef by trade.”
However, Channel Seven kept Manu on board by signing on another judge to help with his workload. Imagine his surprise when they roped in Colin, who “hates my guts”.
When the former rivals started judging together, Manu opted to kill him with kindness, though Colin joked that his new co-star was simply marking his territory.
After bonding in their early days on MKR, Colin realised he needed to apologise.
“I needed to do it. I’m not afraid to say sorry to people. I know when I dug myself a hole, and he was good to me,” Colin admitted.
“When I was learning, I was just thrown to the wolves. And we got through it, and he helped me.
“I’m not ashamed to say sorry to people. If you make as many mistakes as me, you get used to it.”
Colin said he has softened since having his daughters, Lily and Maeve, and has learnt that he can’t take back what he says on social media.
Now, Colin and Manu get on like a house on fire after hosting MKR together for more than 10 years, but it certainly wasn’t written in the stars for the pair.
