How George Broke The Master Chef Dream

The ‘three musketeers’ vowed to stick together, but it was their loyalty that saw them come crashing down

- Reality Update

Matt Preston and Gary Mehigan have stood by their embattled MasterChef co-host and “lifelong” friend George Calombaris, amid the rising controversy and backlash surrounding his company’s gross underpayment of staff to the tune of almost $8 million. But one well-placed insider tells Woman’s Day that it was their efforts to try to save George’s job that ultimately led to them leaving the show after 11 years – after Ten called their bluff and stopped the contract negotiations on the spot.

“TV bosses had known about George’s wage theft accusations for a while,” a MasterChef source says of the disgraced chef’s Fair Work Commission scandal, which resulted in a $200,000 fine.

“He had gone to them early so they could get across it and get behind him once the court case started but they were worried this scandal would affect their ratings.”