My Kitchen Rules has had its fair share of confrontations this year, and Michael Edelberg and Rielli Portegys have been at the centre of many.
The couple have divided viewers with their opinionated antics and have most recently butted heads with rivals, Mark and Tan.
Before being eliminated on October 20, the pair had their fair share of emotional moments in the kitchen, with Rielli being reduced to tears over the stress of the competition.
Despite the challenges, the couple have been very vocal about their desire to tie the knot, even hosting a wedding-themed Instant Restaurant.
It has left many viewers wondering if the headstrong couple are still together now.
Scroll on for everything we know about Michael and Rielli’s relationship...
Are Michael and Rielli still together?
Not only are Michael and Rielli still together, but they are engaged!
The couple confirmed the news exclusively with New Idea after their elimination from My Kitchen Rules on October 20.
Michael popped the question during a romantic holiday in New York, and gave us all the romantic details about the proposal.
“I planned an amazing day for Rielli,” Michael told us. “I took her out, got her a designer bag, we went and did a tour with one of my cousins of the UN headquarters, and I somehow got her convinced that it would be OK to go into Central Park while it was not the greatest weather, it was pretty windy and rainy.”
He secretly arranged that photographer Victor Nechay would be waiting in the park for them, and he was able to capture the emotional moment that Michael got down on one knee, to Rielli’s total surprise.
“I had a photographer there waiting and I asked him if he could take a photo of us, and Rielli obviously didn’t know that he was a photographer for us and it was all preplanned,” he continued.
“Then I proposed, and we followed it up with dinner at one of New York’s [nicest restaurants].”
Read our full engagement interview with the couple here.
Are Michael and Rielli married?
Michael and Rielli have not confirmed if they have yet tied the knot, after speculation that they might do so on the show.
Their wedding-themed instant restaurant had left fans wondering whether MKR would host its first on-screen wedding, with Michael even revealing he had considered proposing on the show.
“It’s funny because I actually spoke with the producers when we first began casting, and I asked them, I was going to propose on MKR at our Instant Restaurant,” Michael told us. “But I’m so glad that I didn’t, because wow, we got such bad scores!”
However, the couple are in no rush to walk down the aisle and want to focus on their engagement for now.
“We’ve kind of been in this love bubble, we obviously haven’t told anybody [yet], so we’re just enjoying this part,” Rielli told us.
“There’s actually no rush at all to get married. I just want to ride this wave of being engaged.”
“I feel like a lot of people get engaged and get married straight away, but we want to just enjoy the engagement stage,” Michael added.
What happened with Rielli and Mark on MKR?
Self-proclaimed “Meat Master” Michael and Rielli have been at the centre of many rows, most recently with their rival, Mark.
On Monday, Mark abruptly left the table midway through the meal after Rielli made a jibe about his height.
The tension kicked off when Mark insisted he could cook far better than Michael and Rielli.
“I guarantee I can cook meat better than either of you,” Mark told the couple.
However, Rielli hit back with, “When you can reach the bench, you can say that,” prompting Mark to walk out.
Mark eventually returned to the table and Rielli apologised, but things have remained tense between them.
In fact, Rielli has claimed much more happened than what was shown on camera.
She shockingly alleged that Mark actually tried to fight Michael off-camera and had called her partner a “loser”.
“What you didn’t see… is that [Mark] told Michael to come outside,” Rielli told Chattr. “So I just think, I don’t know, that’s more of a personal attack than what I said.”
“Mark likes to play innocent. But one, he’s not, and two, at least I was the bigger person who apologised and knew I was in the wrong.
“Mark is just childish and couldn’t even be bothered to talk to me or look me in the eye when I tried to apologise.”
She also claimed that Mark has been posting comments about Michael on social media, an action which she said has “infuriated” her.
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