We’re only two episodes into My Kitchen Rules 2026, and Jane and Shane have already got everyone talking. First, they complained that Krysten and Lucy didn’t devein the prawns in their paella.
Then, the Blue Mountains couple barely touched their dinner plates. When Jane explained to the group, “I’m more of a taster than an eater,” the other contestants were left asking: Is it rude to leave food on your plate as a guest?
“I’m more of a taster than an eater”
When Krysten and Lucy served paella as their main course, Jane picked at the dish before pushing much of it aside.
Noticing her barely touched plate, judge Manu Feildel said, “It doesn’t look like you’ve enjoyed it so much”.
Jane defended her approach, explaining she’s “more of a taster than an eater,” which she said comes with working in the food industry. “I think that comes with the industry, to be honest, because you’re around food all the time,” she said.
Shane agreed, saying, “I find it actually quite empowering to leave food on a plate”.
How can you judge the food?
Since the whole point of MKR is to cook for each other and actually taste the food, it’s no surprise some of the other contestants were left scratching their heads.
Away from the table, Simon didn’t hold back, saying, “I’ll be straight up. It was pathetic.” Angus agreed. “The girls have made a big effort to cook for all of us”.
“Eat the food that’s put in front of you,” he added.
Deanna made a great point. “You’re at a competition to try people’s food that they’ve been cooking all day. We’re all doing it. How would she feel if we just pushed her food aside?”
Krysten and Lucy also wondered how Jane could properly judge the food if she hasn’t eaten it.
“Jane ate nothing,” said Krysten. “And if you didn’t eat it, how can you judge it?”
Is it rude to leave food on your plate? We asked you
Most of our Facebook readers actually sided with Jane. Sort of. Many people pointed out not everyone has the same appetite, and plenty of people have health reasons for eating less.
“Eat till you’re full, not till you’re finished!” wrote one reader. Another added that after years of being told to clear her plate, she now eats “a child’s serve” and leaves food all the time.
But almost everyone agreed on one thing: if you serve yourself, you should finish what you took.
“It would be rude if you served yourself and then didn’t eat it.”
Culture came up too. As someone pointed out, “In Filipino and many Asian communities, [leaving food] is seen as rude because hosts or families put so much time and love into what they cook”.
Another pointed out the opposite. “In some Asian countries, it is rude not to leave a little on the plate.”
One reader follows that rule herself: “Always leave some. It shows you have had sufficient. Otherwise they think you have gone hungry”.
The verdict? Jane definitely picked the wrong table for her approach
At a regular dinner party, most people seem to agree that leaving a half-eaten plate isn’t a big deal.
But on MKR, eating the food is the whole point. Teams spend all day cooking, then have to score each other, so just tasting a dish and pushing it aside doesn’t seem quite right.
If I were in Krysten and Lucy’s shoes, I think I’d feel the same way.
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