Ten drops Matt Preston, Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris as negotiations break down
Despite being with the show since its inception, Gary Mehigan, George Calombaris and Matt Preston will not return to Ten for the 12th season of Masterchef next year.
The announcement comes shortly after the network announced it would support the embattled Calombaris as he faced a mere $200,000 fine as the result of his business underpaying workers by $7.8m. Now, however, the broadcaster says it has been unable to reach an agreement with the trio.
Ten initially told Mumbrella it would stand by Calombaris after the fine, and that it wouldn’t be commenting further on the matter.
“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. We will not be making any further comment,” a Ten spokesperson told Mumbrella late last week.
But in an announcement today, chief executive officer Paul Anderson said the three would be leaving the network due to an inability to reach a commercial agreement.
“Despite months of negotiation, Ten has not been able to reach a commercial agreement that was satisfactory to Matt, Gary and George.
“Across 11 sensational seasons, Masterchef Australia has established itself as one of the most popular and respected cooking television series around the world. For more than a decade, the iconic series has shaped and driven the Australian public’s passion for food and cooking, delivered iconic television moments, and made the culinary dreams of everyday home cooks come true.”
Anderson went on to thank the trio, and confirm the show would be returning for season 12 without them.
“We would like to thank Gary, George and Matt for their contribution over the past 11 years,” he said.
“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.”
The decision comes after it was revealed Calombaris’ Tourism WA campaign had been canned.
“Given the recent community response due to Mr Calombaris’ issues with the Fair Work Commission we have paused the parts of the campaign that have featured him and we’re speaking with his management,” a spokesperson told Mumbrella.
Morning Show reporter Peter Ford said Tourism WA would be pulling its advertising from Masterchef.
The show has also been a good ratings pull for Ten, with the 2018 season regularly delivering audiences over 800,000 and 2019’s 11th season sitting between 600,000 and 800,000 after a premiere of 715,000. The show often performs well in the three key advertising demographics of 16-39s, 18-49s and 25-54s.
Brave of Channel 10 to blame this on contract negotiations rather than explaining that they are distancing themselves from wage theft.
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Hopefully Ten will bring in some women!
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Ahahahahahaha!!!… wait… hahahahahaha!!!
[Edited under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy]
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So I guess the one who skimped out on paying his employees, gets skimped out on being paid from his own job. Go figures.
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To quote Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, “Yeah, dry that out and you could fertilise the lawn.”
The problem with this charade response from TEN is that they have been promoting the shit out of applications for chefs for next years show – fronted by Gary, George and Matt.
With sagging ratings and a poorly cast show of chefs this year its probably time to can it, reinvent or rest it…that clock must be ticking for Beverly et al.
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Him going is correct, he should rightly lose that platform.. but someone will pick them up for sure.
But as for the show on Ten… I think this will be another top gear and it’s essentially dead
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This is not fair to sack Gary & Matt. Gary would be the nicest person I assume anyone could meet & I love Matt’s Flair he brings to the show. They shouldn’t be axed for George’s selfish ways.
Please Reconsider. Otherwise I hope one of the other stations take them on. I think its a big mistake & unfair .
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WOW. Brave of Channel 10 to remove the three amigos and the risk of taking a huge ratings hit.
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Poor George. Must be so tough being underpaid like that. Just imagine.
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You don’t think the three Amigos might have been shopped already with another format in the wings?
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Tricia – why ?
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No more under paying workers or subjecting the viewing public to appalling table manners…bye bye Georgie & Co. What a mis-judge-ment…the public likes the MasterChef format, not the judges.
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Brave??? I think stupid… show is gone…..name any overseas heavyweight chef who will come to talk nice with the mentors…..
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My thoughts exactly. The three had such a good dynamic and one cannot recreate that with other people, it failed for Top Gear, it will fail here. It was a great show and great hosts, but someone else stepping the the place of the tree will just not be the same.
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The end of an era and the end of the only show on Ten to rate above 500,000.
Look for Osher Gunsberg, Grant Denyer and Julia Morris as hosts next season ?
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I think Gary and Matt work – George has a PR issue. Needs some fresh talent with the ratings slide. Adam Liaw, Kylie, could front up.
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Don’t be fooled – Gary and Matt will be back next season.
This is a neatly structured win-win PR solution for the problem George created when he decided to underpay his staff.
Instead of brutally sacking him and risking blow-back, 10 has staged an all-of-team “failed negotiation” that will be miraculously resolved with Gary and Matt prior to the start of Season 12, with the show’s off-season profile being maintained by this manufactured controversy and months of speculation regarding the identity of the new judge(s).
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Masterchef exists as a program in other markets, hosted by other chefs.
I think this offers a timely opportunity to re-energise the program with a new line up of hosts better suited to 2020 and beyond e.g. not 3 white males.
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Think about Top Gear, it lost its 3 presenters, never been the same, the personalities made the show about rev head stuff, losing these personalities (Whether you like them or not) will send it into terminal ratings disaster. Another stupid decision made by stupid network management.
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Grant Denyer and Julia Morris are officially the most annoying people in the world!
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Why not?
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I don’t get the TopGear comparisons. These 3 have zero natural charisma. Have you ever seen them do or say anything that wasn’t part of the script?
They contribute nothing unique to show, there is zero chemistry between them and they are 100% replaceable.
Well overdue for a change anyway
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These three are the most wooden of presenters, and George is quite unlikeable, even more so now that he’s been caught ripping off his staff. Remember him hitting out at that soccer fan who taunted him last year?
Good riddance. Get some fresh faces and some charisma in there.
The Great British Bake Off survived their make over.
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Top Gear was an institution. Master Chef Australia is a franchised piece of crap.
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