All three MasterChef judges are leaving the show amid pay dispute

Ten’s cooking show has suffered another hit amid a week of turmoil and the mass exit of all three of its judges.

MasterChef has suffered another blow amid the fallout from the mass exodus of its three long-time judges.

Network 10 pulled the plug on Matt Preston, Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris, and confirmed the trio will not return to MasterChef next year - just hours before the season 11 finale aired.

Sadly, it wasn’t even enough to compel viewers to tune in for the trio’s final ever appearance on the show, with last night’s episode attracting the series’ lowest-ever ratings for a finale.

MasterChef drew an average national audience of 831,000 viewers, with a peak of 992,000 when the winner was announced.

It marked a dramatic drop on the 2018 ratings, which peaked at 1.32 million.

The three judges have become some of Aussie TV’s most recognisable faces.

Ten dropped the bombshell about the judges’ future with the show late on Tuesday, amid mounting calls for Calombaris to be sacked.

Chief executive officer Paul Anderson said: “Despite months of negotiation, 10 has not been able to reach a commercial agreement that was satisfactory to Matt, Gary and George.”

“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.”

Calombaris, Mehigan and Preston were reportedly on salaries “well over $1 million”, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

All three are believed to have left MasterChef after the network refused to up their salaries “by more than 40 per cent”, according to the newspaper.

News.com.au has contacted Network 10 for comment.

Meanwhile Calombaris has been under fire after it was revealed he had underpaid staff working for his Melbourne restaurant empire more than $7.8 million.

The chef and his Made Establishment company was fined a “contrition payment” of $200,000 by the Fair Work Ombudsman.

Calombaris has apologised for his actions, but that did not stop more than 22,000 people signing a petition calling for him to be sacked from MasterChef.

MasterChef judge George Calombaris. Picture: AAP/Image Sarah Marshall

“George should pay a serious price for this massive theft of workers’ wages,” the petition read.

“Channel 10 should stop making excuses for this serial wage thief.”

The celebrity chef was dumped from a West Australian tourism campaign on Monday.

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

Tourism WA managing director Brodie Carr on Monday 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,” Mr Carr told 6PR radio.

The three judges have been with the show since its first season.

“We’ll continue with the campaign that we’re doing with MasterChef but probably not with George.”

PR guru Patrick Southam from Reputation Edge had told Mumbrella that Network 10’s position was a “massive cop out”.

“Ten’s PR ‘strategy’ is crude but obvious — back Calombaris, don’t give the story oxygen in the final week by staying silent, and hope it will all be forgotten by viewers by the time season 12 rolls around,” Southam wrote.

But even Southam didn’t think they would go as far as letting Calombaris go.

“Ten would be quietly furious with Calombaris’ latest stuff-up, but dumping him ahead of the peak ratings week of the series was never a serious option. MasterChef is one of the biggest shows on Ten’s low-rating roster,” he wrote in his column.

The cooking show is one of Network 10’s only major competitors in the ratings. This year, the show pulled in between 550,000-650,000 metro viewers a night.

The season finale will air tonight.

Earlier today, Preston gave no hint he and the show’s judges were leaving the show, sharing a photo on Instagram of the duo ahead of the finale.

Fan reaction to the news MasterChef was losing its judges was swift but there was little sympathy for Calombaris.

MAKE HUEY THE NEXT JUDGE, YOU COWARDS#MasterChefAU pic.twitter.com/hk1GC5lffP

— 🍂❄️🐕Patrick Lenton🌚🍁🌬 (@PatrickLenton) July 23, 2019

Currently shedding 7.8 million crocodile tears for George Calombaris #MasterChefAU

— JC Clapham (@jcclapham) July 23, 2019

george, matt and gary aren't returning for season 12 of masterchef australia. petition to make me a judge so i can finally put a durian in the mystery box #masterchefau

— Amanda Yeo (@amandamyeo) July 23, 2019

Imagine saying low-paid hospo workers are paid too much and that penalty rates are hurting your profits (while living in a Toorak mansion), only to then unionise with your co-workers & quit because your $1 MILLION+ per season salary is too low!#WageTheft #MasterchefAU https://t.co/Yxc0nMsAe5

— Claire Boland (@ClaireLBoland) July 23, 2019

WHOA 😲 #MasterChefAU https://t.co/QiStbP8MN1

— Adam Liaw (@adamliaw) July 23, 2019

Good decision @Channel10AU - now hire judges who treat their workers properly! #MasterchefAU https://t.co/8MmEF3XYr0

— Claire Boland (@ClaireLBoland) July 23, 2019

Ironic that George left because 10 weren’t paying him enough. #MasterChef  #MasterTheft

— impossibleprince79 (@pjk27779) July 23, 2019

MasterChef was a ratings smash when it premiered in 2009, with its Season 1 finale watched by more than 3.3 million viewers.

The cooking competition went on to spawn 10 more seasons as well as spinoffs Junior MasterChef and Celebrity MasterChef.

In recent years MasterChef ratings have waned, with season finales in 2017 and 2018 watched by just over 1.1 million.

Previous contestants have included Julie Goodwin, Poh Ling Yeow, Marion Grasby, Justine Schofield, Adam Liaw and Hayden Quinn.