Those who have delivered a clanger at a dinner with people you don’t know well may have felt for Matt on My Kitchen Rules on Monday night.

The reaction to his words? Leaden silence. Back-pedalling to nowhere. And on national TV.

What a clanger it was. Having just found out that Josh was a model who had turned down an opportunity to work in the US because he was newly married to Amy, Matt asked the table if they’d ever heard of the term “Batting Merrins”.

A quick Google search reveals he’s referring to a term that emerged when NRL player Trent Merrin was dating someone more attractive than he was.

Can you believe he said that?! #TheIncident #AlyseMatt #JoshAmy #mkr pic.twitter.com/2qxu4aLRlU

— Channel 7 (@Channel7) February 13, 2017

Matt, as he dug an even deeper hole, said Amy was “batting Merrins”. Cue gasps around the table.

“Are you saying that because Amy’s not a model,” Matt’s wife Alyse tries to help him out. Amy responded: “I have no ambition to be a model so I don’t give a f**k.”

But she did really. Della nailed it when she said “he’d have got a swift elbow to the groin if that was my husband”.

Matt suggested they needed to be a little more light-hearted. Thankfully, in the kitchen light-hearted, happiness and high-pitched screaming was all happening as the ‘Giggle Sisters’ Kelsey and Amanda worked as an amazing team.

They’d already been dismissed by Matt, who expected “blonde moments”.

And to be fair, there were a few hilarious moments as Kelsey, a banker on maternity leave, struggled with adding up (“I’m 21 and Amanda’s 35. There’s 12 years between us. That’s right isn’t it?”) and pronunciation (“acidey, acerdity, acidity” was one of the classics).

“We are totally going to show the other teams that we’re not bimbos.”

They certainly did that. Working as a well-drilled, unflappable team and filled with laughter and support for each other, they turned out a beautiful menu for their “children’s party for adults” themed instant restaurant, The Bright Side.

Their entrée of ricotta and spinach ravioli with saffron burnt butter earned 10 out of 10 from both judges. Their main of crispy skinned snapper served with mashed potato and lemon and chive dressing also scored well.

Forget the food. Matt’s insult was personal. Photo: Channel 7

But not with Matt’s wife Alyse, who is nervous about eating fish.

“I tend to bring it back up. It’s a just a physical thing. I’m not allergic. It’s a bit of an intolerance so I’m a little bit nervous.”

“You and everybody else at the table,” chimes in Matt. Much relief all-round. She didn’t spill her guts. And the chocolate fondant was the best the judges had eaten in the competition – ever.

Get to the top of the leaderboard girls – with 95 points.

It’s a tough balance getting this show right. On one hand, there’s the dinner party from hell happening front of house and then there’s the cooking happening in the kitchen.

MKR is nailing the balance this season and that’s why it’s flying so high in the ratings. All they need to do now is to tell the voiceover man that it’s tonight, not “ter-night” and competition – not “compertition” and it, too, will be 10 out of 10.