Scandal hounds George Calombaris, Masterchef Australia bids farewell to all three celebrity judges

Masterchef Australia has announced a farewell to its celebrity judges Matt Preston, Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris, after their stint of eleven seasons on the show.
Masterchef Judges
Masterchef Judges

Masterchef Australia, the cooking show and runaway success around the world, has announced a farewell to its celebrity judges Matt Preston, Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris, after their stint of eleven seasons on the show.

In an Instagram post ahead of the season finale, Masterchef Australia said it was bidding a “fond farewell” to the trio. 

“For more than a decade, #MasterChefAU has celebrated Australian food and made the culinary dreams of everyday home cooks come true. We thank Matt, George and Gary for being a part of this remarkable MasterChef legacy!” it said.

The move follows a shocking revelation about George Calombaris underpaying the staff members at his restaurants by around AUD $8 million.

However, Network 10, which airs Masterchef Australia, backed George over the controversy as a spokesperson said, “George and MAdE Establishment have reached an agreement with the Fair Work Ombudsman in relation to this matter. George has the support of Network 10.”

The controversy first surfaced in 2017 when it was estimated that about 162 workers had been underpaid by $2.6 million due to “historically poor resources”, and a Fair Work Ombudsman in Australia was investigating the issue.

Network 10 CEO Paul Anderson went on record in a press interaction saying that the decision to remove the judges was made as the trio was unable to arrive at a satisfactory commercial agreement.

As a direct result of the controversy, George was almost instantly dropped as the face of West Australia Tourism. Tourism WA earlier signed him on a contract for a "design your own gourmet escape" campaign.

George has, in turn, been ordered to pay $200,000 as “contrition payment”, and he has also been mandated to make public statements to encourage compliance with the Fair Work Act.

The chef also issued a statement last week, apologising to his team. “We apologise to all our affected team members, past and present – as it is our people that make our restaurants great, and it is our priority to ensure all of our employees feel respected, rewarded and supported in their roles,” says George.

Later on Tuesday, Gary, Matt and George all issued statements on their respective social media channels. 

While Gary and Matt said they disagreed with Network 10 on all conditions of the new contract for 2020, George said their "dates didn't align." 

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