Why Ross Stevenson got salty over Plate of Origin concept
When radio titan Ross Stevenson first heard Seven Network was launching a new show called Plate Of Origin, an executive pitched it as the “World Cup of Food”. See why the 3AW star’s mood went from simmer to boil.
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It was sliced, diced, seasoned and spiced as an enticing appetiser at Seven’s 2020 program launch.
But when radio titan Ross Stevenson got a taste of the network’s new show, Plate Of Origin, pitched by a Seven executive as the “World Cup of Food,” the 3AW star’s mood went from simmer to boil.
Stevenson said well-known TV producer Rick McKenna, of Kath and Kim fame, pitched his World Cup of Food idea to several production companies about a year ago.
“I always thought it was a great idea. You run it like a World Cup, maybe have 24 countries or 12 countries — manageable in television terms — play them all off until you get to the final, which is the World Cup of Food,” he said back then.
Stevenson owns the domain names worldcupoffood.com and worldcupofcooking.com.
His complaint came days after Plate of Origin executive producer David Dutton referred to the reality cooking series as the “World Cup of cooking” at Seven’s glitzy launch.
However, almost a year later, things have cooled considerably.
Seven sources maintain Plate of Origin was never pitched to them directly and was “an evolution of ideas” and developed internally.
Stevenson said he had “no comment” other than to say he “bears no ill will” towards the show’s hosts, Matt Preston, Manu Feildeland Gary Mehigan.
The show, which pits home cooks representing different cultural cuisines against each other, premieres on Sunday.
“It says loudly and proudly that Australia is an incredibly diverse country, and this show celebrates that,” Preston said.
“The show is loose, relaxed ... and there’s not a lot of ominous music and screeching violin strings. I do love that stuff, but it’s also nice to make a show that’s unapologetically joyous.”
He said Feildel is a triple threat. “Gary and I are two-dimensional performers, we do what we do. Manu can juggle, unicycle and dance.”