My Kitchen Rules‘ stars Justin and Will are gearing up for their showdown against Maria and Bailey in Sunday night’s final.
The final two teams will see who has what it takes to be crowned the 2025 champions and take home the $100,000 cash prize on November 16.
Ahead of the cook-off, Justin and Will seemingly took a subtle swipe at their rivals as they discussed the “strategic scoring” uproar in recent weeks.
Maria and Bailey notably came under fire in the lead-up to the final after they admitted to “strategically scoring” Amy and Lara’s Instant Restaurant to ensure their own place in the competition.
While it is not against the rules, the pair were accused of “cheating” by unimpressed fans, and Justin and Will have now addressed the controversy.
My Kitchen Rules finalists Justin and Will have taken a subtle swipe at Maria and Bailey before the final. (Credit: Channel Seven)
Speaking exclusively to New Idea, Justin said: “I mean, that was their game plan, and if that’s what got them to the grand final, good luck to them. We would never have done that. Our game plan was just to cook really good food and deliver it.”
“There’s no right or wrong way to go about it, but there’s one method that gets viewed differently to the other,” Will continued.
“If you want to strategic score, great, make it to the grand final, and you might have some haters. But if you just cook really well all the way to the grand final, I think the general public will think you deserve it. But we still have to deliver.”
When asked if they thought strategic scoring influenced who made it to the final, Justin admitted it was “hard to say”.
While Will dished, “I think if you score strategically, of course, it’s going to have an effect, because it’s the reason why Amy and Lara went home. It definitely makes a difference on how long a team stays in the competition.”
Of their own game plan, the best friends said they planned to “never get involved in any drama”, with Justin adding: “[Our plan] was just to cook really well and deliver good food.”
Will admitted it wasn’t as easy for him to shrug off some of the drama around the table, with Justin calming him down on occasion.
“Justin had to pull me back a little bit sometimes and say, ‘mate, just don’t bite’,” Will confessed.
Maria and Bailey came under fire from fans for admitting to strategically scoring. (Credit: Channel Seven)
For them, the hardest part of the competition was being away from their families for nearly four months, rather than any of the tension or fallouts in the kitchen.
“The competition was hard, but being away from our families was harder,” Justin said. “That was the drive that we took into this competition from day one, all the way to the grand final.”
Justin and Will have been firm fan favourites since the beginning, but they insisted they didn’t go in thinking they’d make it to the final, though their confidence grew as the days went on.
“We probably underestimated ourselves because we expected a high calibre of cooking, and I’m not saying that it wasn’t, but we just didn’t see ourselves as that high a standard,” Will said.
“But I guess a lot of work went in when we were on the road to develop and try new dishes off-camera. That helped us build confidence throughout the whole competition.”
Justin and Will are hoping to be crowned 2025 champions for their families. (Credit: Channel Seven)
Of making the final, Justin gushed: “It was a phenomenal feeling. We were just like jumping for joy afterwards.”
Justin and Will are hoping for a nail-biting final cook-off against Maria and Bailey, saying they don’t want it to be an easy win for either team.
“It gets tough in that kitchen, so there’s a lot of pressure, but we’re not really focused on who we’re cooking against; we’re just focused on what we’re bringing,” Will said.
“We hope it’s just a good battle; we want it to be a good battle. We don’t want it to be one that’s already decided after a main or something, we want it to be all the way to the end, where both teams have had a crack.”
Viewers can tune in to Channel Seven at 7.30pm on Sunday, November 16, to see if Justin and Will have what it takes to win the 2025 series of My Kitchen Rules.
Kate Dennett
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