Opinion Post from Guest Contributor, Brionny Maclean

It seems the current casting trend among Australian reality TV shows but this writer firmly believes putting inherently 'nasty' characters in a program cycle can either be ratings gold or completely polarising to the audience.

Case in point is this seasons MKR - round one gave us Zana and her soft toy-loving husband Gianni. Yes Zana was 'the bitch' but she had cooking chops. Round 2 gave us Jessica. The only female on earth that enters a cooking show when she actually hates food. She was universally disliked and everyone was happy when she was eliminated. Why? Her delusions of grandeur and cooking talent mixed with questionable fashion and makeup choices made her Twitter fodder.

Round 3 and the 'redemption round' give us Carmine and Lauren. Well not so much Carmine. He tends to sit mute and nod as Lauren throws barbs across the dinner table. The one time he spoke up in favour of a pineapple flavoured baked Pina Colada, I thought Lauren was going to eviscerate his eyeballs with a spoon.

Lauren isn't like Zana or Jessica. Where Zana had the 'princess bitch' vibe down perfectly and Jessica bordered on social ineptitude Lauren is a whole other creature.

She is unlikeable. Whether that is the editors doing their jobs or not we wont know until after the finale and the tabloid magazines flock to the most controversial contestants for 'Exclusive! Tell All Interview!'

Within my social circles I struggle to find one person that likes her. She appears needlessly vindictive. A bad sport, a sour puss. Clearly attempting to manipulate others to believe what she says.

If I was a producer on MKR I'd be keeping an eye on social media. In this era of digital influencers having such a polarising individual as Lauren on a show could spell disaster.