Cheese ball fail sees MKR duo Hannah and Cathy sent home

Cathy and Hannah started out as front runners of My Kitchen Rules, but were sent home after issues in the People's Choice challenge.

They were touted as the team to beat but Hannah and Cathy's My Kitchen Rules dreams came crashing down with a batch of failed cheese balls.

The Auckland pair were front runners in the TV2 cooking competition with a top score of 81 out of 100 for their Instant Restaurant, Bloom.

But disaster struck in the second phase when a barbeque failed to properly heat oil for their Bolitas de Queso, or deep fried cheeseballs, which were to be served up during a People's Choice challenge.

The duo, who worked together at Spring Hill Corrections Facility rehabilitating high-risk violent offenders, told the Herald they were "pretty gutted" to be sent home, but took pride in what they had achieved.

"It was pretty exciting to get such a good score first off, especially when you are first to cook, you haven't met anyone and you don't know the judges. It's quite terrifying in a way," Hannah said.

Teams braved the cold in Britomart for the challenge, which asked them to sell as many servings as possible to passers-by for gold a coin donation.

Food was also judged by hungry strangers, although 30 minutes into service, Hannah and Cathy had not prepared a single plate.

After a motivational speech from judges Ben Bayley and Gareth Stewart the ladies came up with Plan B: turning their deep-fried cheeseballs into fritters, but it was too late.

As the evening dwindled and barbeques cooled, the two least impressive groups were announced - one headed for Sudden Death and the other was eliminated.

Bayley said it was Cathy and Hannah's inability to adapt which led to their demise: "We know you're great cooks but unfortunately in a competition like this one day can change everything."

For her the hardest part would be walking into work to face staff and supporters who had backed them from the beginning.

Cathy has since left her job at the prison in pursuit of her cooking dreams, focusing on foodie blog recipeforwhat.com and creating a YouTube channel.

She has already blogged about her elimination in a post titled: Recipe for Disaster on National Television: A step by step guide on how to fail at a cooking competition.

"I want to expand my skills and my knowledge so eventually I can open my own restaurant, that's the goal," she said.

* My Kitchen Rules New Zealand, Monday and Tuesday nights, 7.30pm on TV2.

- nzherald.co.nz