Iconic 'Masterchef: Australia' Trio Quit The Show After 11 Seasons!

Masterchef: Australia is one of the most popular cooking shows globally, and especially in India where the show has immense viewership too. And one of the prime reasons for the same has been the host, judges trio:  Matt Preston, George Calombaris and Gary Mehigan.

Having been a part of the iconic show for 11 seasons, the trio will now be bidding the show farewell. According to a report in The Guardian, the entire MasterChef Australia judging panel will not return next season, an announcement that follows revelations George Calombaris’s companies had underpaid staff at his restaurants by nearly $8M.

Network 10 announced on Tuesday, ahead of the season finale, that the episode would be the last show for Matt Preston, Gary Mehigan and Calombaris.

Chief executive officer Paul Anderson said the network had not been able to reach a commercial agreement that was satisfactory to the trio.

“We would like to thank Gary, George and Matt for their contribution over the past 11 years,” Anderson said in a statement. “We can’t wait to introduce another group – and the next generation of exceptional judges – in season 12 of MasterChef Australia next year.”

There is no suggestion the decision for the judges not to return to the show next season is connected to the underpayment issue.

Last week unions called for Calombaris to be sacked as a MasterChef judge after it was revealed his companies had underpaid staff at his restaurants by nearly $8m.

The Fair Work Ombudsman fined his Made Establishment company $200,000 after a four-year investigation that uncovered a failure to pay award rates, penalty rates, casual loadings, overtime and other allowances.

The West Australian government has also suspended its tourism campaign featuring Calombaris.

Calombaris featured in Tourism WA’s advertising campaign Create Your Own Gourmet Escape in WA, which first aired in the eastern states on MasterChef during WA week earlier this month and was due to run until September.

Tourism WA’s managing director, Brodie Carr, said the ads with Calombaris had been suspended, although the campaign with MasterChef would continue.

“We’ve paused all of our work with George for now and we’re talking to his management about recouping some of our costs that we’ve paid him,” Carr told 6PR radio. “We’ll continue with the campaign that we’re doing with MasterChef but probably not with George.