George Calombaris ready to be back in the TV kitchen

George Calombaris has detailed why he’ll “never go back” to the glitzy ways of his pre-scandal existence while hinting at a comeback to the small screen.

George Calombaris is ready to get back on TV. Picture: Tim Carrafa.

Celebrity chef George Calombaris wants to return to television, saying he is excited to re-emerge into public life.

But the former MasterChef judge says he won’t go back to the “crazy world” he used to live in and is grateful for the time he spent last year with wife Natalie and their two children.

“I’m really excited about this year, I think personally I will never go back to the crazy world that I used to live in,’’ Calombaris told the Herald Sun.

“I really enjoyed my family because I was never really around for them.

“Being around them for the last nine months, I’ve missed out on a lot.”

Calombaris has rarely been sighted since the collapse of his restaurant empire, MAdE Establishment Group, in February last year.

It came after the business was beset by reputational damage following a $7.8 million underpayment scandal.

Calombaris is a former host of MasterChef Australia.

The former Jimmy Grants and Hellenic Republic chef said: “If I keep looking backwards I’m going to get a sore neck. So I just look forward and I want to do good things.”

He also alluded to a TV return.

“After you come off what was one of the most incredible television shows in MasterChef, I’m very grateful I’ve had time to just breathe and time to spend with my family,’’ he said.

“I love television and I will do it again but it’s got to represent who I am and talk about the story. Hopefully I’ll be able to help people through all of my good, bad and ugly.”

Calombaris described the past three years as “really hard”.

“The hard thing was to see how my team suffered,” he said.

“I’m really excited the last of them is now overseas cooking in an amazing place in Singapore. All my head chefs and managers are in great places and doing great things and that makes me really happy.”

Calombaris — who recently sold his Toorak mansion for $8.8 million — said he and his family are enjoying life down the coast and won’t return to Melbourne in the short term.

He was back in the kitchen at The Botanical in South Yarra on Wednesday night for the launch of Grainshaker vodka’s first-time partnership with the Australian Open.

He admitted he was “rusty” but said the restaurant industry needed the sort of support being offered by the tennis, which “brings something on for us”.

“I’m pretty excited about Melbourne, it’s been a bloody hard time for everyone,’’ he said.

“It’s nice to see them (restaurants) all reopening and breathing life back into the venues.”