Reality star visits his favourite haunts

If you think you've spotted My Kitchen Rules New Zealand contestant Dan Freeman on Hawke's Bay streets, you're not mistaken - the reality star is in town sampling some local cuisine during a break in filming.

Accompanied by his girlfriend, Freeman was planning to visit a few of his favourite haunts, including Elephant Hill, Mister D and Deliciosa.

The marketing student, 22, who made his debut with cooking companion, Sam Sutherland, 21, on MKR last Sunday, has been studying in Auckland, although he calls Hawke's Bay home.

While the pair were portrayed as the "villains" of the series he assured Hawke's Bay Today the cast loved to socialise off camera.

"We were pretty shocked at how bad they made us look, we were really just having fun, but it was genuinely not good food," he said. "We are all friends, there's no love lost, we still text each other and catch up for drinks."

Editing had something to do with the "bitchy" portrayal, but they were also willing to play a role for the camera; so far the duo remain unfazed by public opinion.

"Some people absolutely hate us, some absolutely love us, it's very entertaining. I'm happy with any attention really, even if it's not good."

Mr Freeman was brought up around food - his parents used to own a local cafe - but more recently he's found inspiration from television cooking shows. You won't find any two-minute noodles or toast in the flat he shares with Mr Sutherland - they're all about experimenting with new things in the kitchen, although he admits they do have some weaknesses. "We really haven't cooked much fish, we didn't really want to buy it as it's quite a bit more expensive ..."

He excelled with savoury while his other half on the show was more of a dessert whiz, part of the reason they work so well together.

"Sam is really good with desserts and he has an eye for design so he's good with plating up. I'm more based around the flavours of the proteins in the entree and mains."

Contestants weren't allowed to reveal too much about the show, except to say filming in Dunedin during the first snow of the season and being mentored by judge Ben Bayly, were highlights.

"The judges are really lovely, they have to keep up the illusion of being serious but we are really inspired by them, especially Ben, he was aware that we really liked him so he took time to help us out and made us better chefs.

Mr Freeman also applied for last year's New Zealand Masterchef.