The hit judging trio of Matt Preston, Gary Mehigan and Calombaris, who have featured on the cooking show MasterChef Australia for 11 seasons, have been dropped from the show.
Network 10 announced on Tuesday, ahead of the season finale, that the episode would be the last show for Matt Preston, Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris.
This announcement comes in the wake of the revelations that chef George Calombaris had underpaid staff at his restaurants by nearly $8m.
The social media pages of the show also carried a message to all the fans of the show globally, “After 11 sensational seasons, we bid a fond farewell to our judges — Matt Preston, Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris. 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!”
CEO of Network 10, Paul Anderson released a statement thanking the trio, and explaining their decision, “Despite months of negotiation, 10 has not been able to reach a commercial agreement that was satisfactory to Matt, Gary and George.”
He added, “MasterChef Australia has always been about ordinary Australians doing extraordinary things for the love of food and we believe it is very important to continue that ethos. Australia is full of remarkable cooking talent and we can’t wait to introduce another group —and the next generation of exceptional judges —in season 12 of MasterChef Australia next year.”
This surely comes as a shock to audiences across the world who have followed the show ardently over the 11 seasons, and who were already reeling from the news of George Calombaris’ wage scandal that broke earlier last week.
The 40-year-old admitted that he had underpaid hundreds of his restaurant employees by nearly A$8 million ($5.62 million) over six years. He stated that he would repay 515 current and former employees who were underpaid between 2011 and 2017.
