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Michael Murray, a contestant on the reality cooking show “My Kitchen Rules New Zealand” has died at the age of 46, according to RNZ.
RNZ attributed the news to an extended family member who told the site that Murray died on August 12.
“It’s a shock to all those who know him,” the family member, who was not named, told RNZ, which added that Murray was described as “an extremely talented and unique young man.”
The Australian news site News.com.au reported that Murray was a contestant from New Zealand on a “popular cookery show alongside his cousin Piki Knap.”
A cause of death was not given.
Michael Murray Recently Posted a Graphic About His Life in ‘the Next 5 Years’
Murray’s most recent, visible Facebook post was from June 14 and was a graphic that read “Michael’s life in the next 5 years.” It included “working hard, a luxury car, a luxury home, winning the lottery,” and traveling “around the world.”
People responded on his comment thread after his death. “This is crazy, surreal and unbelievable but hey, there was a bigger party in the sky for you,” wrote one person. “And now you have the Ultimate. Rest in Paradise,” another person wrote.
A person who knew Murray tagged Murray’s Facebook page on August 12 and wrote, “YOU have Broken alot of 💔s today . . . mine included. St8 off the Plane, St8 to YOU at Waikato ICU. Missed the Barge … Gone too soon.”
“Oh no WTH? What happened? He only been home a little while. Our Deepest Condolences,” another person wrote on that comment thread.
The Cooking Show Pits ‘Amateur Cooking Duos’ Against Each Other
“My Kitchen Rules New Zealand” is described on the TVNZ website this way: “The country’s favourite cooking show is back, pitting New Zealand’s best amateur cooking duos against each other in the ultimate cook off, all judged by MKR legends Manu Feildel and Colin Fassnidge.”
Murray was featured in season six, episode four. Its caption reads, “Raglan cousins Piki & Michael are hosting their Instant Restaurant with kai from the realm of Tangaroa and Tāne. Have they got what it takes to get to the top of the leaderboard?”
The cousins grew up together, according to New Zealand Herald. “We didn’t have any electricity or running water,” Piki told the site. “It was like living in a different era. All the baking and cooking was done on the coal range.”
Michael Murray told NZ Herald “Having seven o’clock baths in the morning, 10 minutes before having to catch the bus, was not an easy thing. We had a small tub the size of a baby’s bathtub, which we had to stand in and then pour water over ourselves. That was life back then.”
The site reported that Murray had “Ngāti Maniapoto heritage.”
The New Zealand Herald reported that Murray “spent much of the past 12 years in Mexico, where he worked on telenovela soap operas and did small stints on other shows.” He returned home in the wak of COVID, the site reported.
“My background is modelling and acting,” he told the site. “I was Mr New Zealand back in 2005, and that’s what took me overseas and eventually to Mexico. Obviously, I’m not Mexican, but they thought I was Latino! I did some great work there, then to come home and be a part of this whole journey with MKR is a blessing in disguise. I’ve always put my hand up to opportunity.”
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