Narrow win for Nic and Rocco

CHILDHOOD mates Nic Mazzone and Rocco La Bella will go up against fellow South Australians Leigh Sexton and Jennifer Evans in tomorrow night's My Kitchen Rules grand final.

The pasta kings narrowly beat out Victorian sisters Carly and Emily Cheung tonight in a hard-fought semi-final.

Only one point separated the two young teams in the show's closest semi-final.

Known as the dessert king, Rocco appeared to have lost his mojo when he had to remake the panna cotta mixture for his dessert trio.

"I've got to do an exorcism and get the devil out," he joked.

In a surprising twist, celebrity judge Karen Martini declared Carly and Emily's dessert of Persian love cakes with yoghurt panna cotta and fresh figs the best of the series.

But it wasn't enough to put the South Australia sisters over the line.

They were let down by their overly seasoned scallop entree and undercooked duck confit.

Nic and Rocco's main, on the other hand, ended up being the strongest element of their three-course meal, for which they received a score of 44 out of 60.

Celebrity judge Guy Grossi called the dish - King George whiting and shellfish mousellini with champagne sauce - near perfect.

"We're over the moon. This is a dream come true for both of us," said Rocco.

"We want to save the best for last and give it our best shot."

The sisters were gracious in their defeat.

"We couldn't have wanted to go out to any other team," said Carly.

"You've done us proud and we think you're amazing cooks."

Despite reports of a romance between Rocco and Carly, there was only talk of friendship in tonight's semi-final.

"We've become really good friends with the girls," Rocco said at the beginning of the challenge.

When asked if he was going to beat his girlfriend by finalist Jennifer, he replied " hey we're friends".

The My KItchen Rules grand final airs tomorrow at 7.30pm on Channel Seven.