There will be an all-star celebrity cook off as some of My Kitchen Rules’ most popular contestants return to Port Douglas for A Taste of Paradise during Carnivale next month.

Port Douglas Carnivale manager Ken Dobbs said it was exciting to have Leigh Sexton (pictured above), one half of last year’s winning Team South Australia, and David Hopgood (pictured below) the popular soldier from Townsville, acting as ambassadors for Carnivale in 2013.

“Both Leigh and David were very popular contestants on MKR in 2012 and many will remember that they visited Port Douglas during filming of the campervan challenge,” Mr Dobbs said.

He added that the pair would appear at a number of Carnivale events during the second weekend from May 24 to 26, including A Taste of Paradise and the Daryl Braithwaite concert on Saturday and the Seafood Extravaganza on Sunday.

For David returning to Port Douglas will be especially exciting, having won the local cooking challenge during last year’s competition.

“We were really lucky last year when we won because we got a taste of Port Douglas. The restaurants have fantastic food, the produce is great and the region is amazing.

"It is great to call Far North Queensland my home and invite my MKR mates back to the region to cook up a storm together and enjoy the Carnivale atmosphere.”



While he didn’t rule out showing off his signature dish of lobster with gnocchi and seafood sauce at Saturday’s A Taste of Paradise, he said he was looking forward to working with fresh, local North Queensland produce.

“There will definitely have to be some seafood,” he added.

“We would like more MKR season 3 contestants to come for a mini MKR reunion pending all their previous engagements and are hopeful we will all be able to head to Port Douglas for the weekend.”

Meanwhile, My Kitchen Rules judge, Manu Fieldel, a regular visitor to Port Douglas, has taken pride of place on the cover of the newly released issues 10 of Port Douglas Magazine.