You were the latest new judge on MKR. You loved fine dining and you came from an Italian family, spending most of your life in Italy. You moved to Australia when you were 16 and you’re now 20. The youngest permanent judge in My Kitchen Rules’ history.

You were an amazing cook yourself and you were a bit of a critique, especially with Italian food, which happened to be the focus tonight. Manu was the other judge, a charming Frenchman with an eye for mediterranean cuisine. You and Manu didn’t get along well, as you were a haughty and overly rude person. Not just as a judge, but also just in general.

As the first team of the night presented their entrée dish, a paste e fagioli, you studied it carefully as it was placed in front of you. The pasta itself looked relatively well cooked, but how would it taste? Would the texture be on point? You hoped so, because this was your favourite entrée dish.

Once Manu received his dish, you wasted no time getting a fork full of the pasta and bringing it to your mouth. You chewed it slowly, studying every small element of it carefully. It was cooked well, a bit too chewy, but besides that it was delicious. The flavours were balanced, nothing felt out of place. But there was one problem for you — the sauce. You were a fussy Italian, so of course you were going to critique the sauce. It was too thick for your liking, too much viscosity. It was supposed to be light and creamy, not thick and butter-like.

When the team came out from the waiting room, awaiting Manu’s comments before yours, you regarded them with the same calculating eyes you gave every contestant. You weren’t trying to intimidate them, you were just sizing them up before you had to speak to them about their dish. Once Manu finished his address, their attention shifted to you.

“What about you, Maddy? What did you think of the pasta a fagioli?”