Will Seven's Kitchen Rule?

MKR host and judge Manu Feildel with fellow judge, Pete Evans.

Chef and host Manu Feildel insists his new show isn't a clone of other cooking contests.

Seven's new cooking show isn't a MasterChef Australia rip-off according to host and judge Manu Feildel.

"The difference is the two good-looking hosts instead of ugly ones!" he laughed.

"It's state against state, with five couples who are friends or husbands and wives. We travel around Australia to Adelaide, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney and Brisbane. They are basically cooking in their own home with their own menu.

It's their own challenge, and they're cooking for Pete [Evans] and I and also the four couples, who are judging as well as us."

As with the former My Restaurant Rules, the show is hoping to rally different states behind their corresponding teams. It will need to hope that Sydney and Melbourne don't drop out of the game early, or it could affect the show's national ratings.

This time, contestants will judge one another. Later two couples will face-off in a showdown in Sydney.

"The first two-thirds of the show we're travelling around Australia to their homes and then whoever hasn't been eliminated goes to Sydney to the My Kitchen Rules headquarters. So there's no Monday competition, Tuesday elimination. It doesn't work that way."

Feildel says contestants are effectively turning their homes into a restaurant for one night and promises stunning dishes as well as disasters. "We want to see them cooking their own cooking. We're not looking for fine dining experiences, we're looking for good food and to see their passion," he said. "They go shopping in the morning, then prepare in the afternoon and service at night."

Winning the show will depend upon not just culinary skills but the ability to host a successful dinner party -- not unlike Come Dine With Me Australia.

"It is all of it. The hosting, the wine they choose to go with the dishes, the look of the dishes, the flavour, the look of the home and making the table nice. Everything counts."

Seven has a lot riding on the show's hopes as the ratings race gears up. Bon appétit!

My Kitchen Rules airs from 7:30pm Monday and Tuesday, February 1 and 2 on Seven.