“I knew Sophia and I were not safe in House Manu,” Romel tells New Idea.
“We knew they were going to do whatever it took to get rid of us, to have us thrown out or eliminated. So, what do I do? How do I ensure we last in the competition?
“I knew that Mark was in control of House Colin, so I thought that if I form an alliance with him then we can control who we eliminate and who we send to elimination cook off,” Romel admits.
Also known to be a strategic player in the show, Mark decides to take up Romel on his tactical offer.
“I could see he was struggling with his team and I needed some help with my team so I thought that it would be a good idea,” says Mark.
“I came into this competition to win, if an alliance with Romel helps me do that, I am in.”
Now, Romel and Mark must try to convince their fellow teammates to score each others’ meals well. But, with their history of giving negative critiques to each other, will the rest of the table suspect that something is going on?
“If there was anything positive I said about Mark, people would know there was something going on,” says Romel.
“What that was, I don’t think they knew, but they were definitely suspicious.”
There is one person who wasn’t on board with Romel’s decision to team up with Mark, and that was his very own teammate Sophia.
“Look, it was a shock to me definitely and one thing we knew from the very beginning is that Mark can’t be trusted,” Sophia reveals.
“So, the fact that the alliance was happening was crazy to me because Mark has shown his true colours and what his values are, and you are essentially going to bed with this person.
“I kind of feel like it wasn’t going to end well but Romel is Romel, I didn’t want to say no and have him have regrets.”
Whether or not the alliance proves fruitful, Mark admits that he has a safety plan in case it all goes belly-up.
“If you make a deal with the 
devil you have to have a backup plan and that’s what I had,” he admits.
But, will Mark need to use his backup plan, or will their alliance prove a good decision.
MKR: The Rivals Mon. to Wed. 7.30pm & Sun. 7pm
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