George Calombaris hasn’t spoken to Matt Preston ‘in ages’

George Calombaris has made a shocking confession, revealing that he rarely speaks to his former MasterChef co-host, Matt Preston.

George Calombaris, Matt Preston and Gary Mehigan for the MasterChef series launch. Picture Jay Town

George Calombaris has revealed that he rarely speaks to one of his longtime MasterChef co-stars.

Calombaris made the confession while speaking to news.com.au’s podcast, I’ve Got News For You, to promote his new Channel 10 cooking show, Hungry.

When asked if he’s still in touch with Gary Mehigan and Matt Preston, with whom he hosted 11 seasons of MasterChef, Calombaris replied: “Gary lives not far from me so I see him a fair bit.”

He added that he and Mehigan have “a massive history together” as Mehigan employed him when he was a 17-year-old apprentice.

But what about Matt Preston?

“Matt, I haven’t spoken to in ages,” Calombaris said. “And not for anything (in particular).

“I’ve got kids now where I say no to a lot of things because how many things can you do? And how many people can you see?”

Calombaris said “busyness” was ultimately to blame for his lack of contact with Preston, but did add that he tries to see his longtime co-host at least once a year.

“Matt, Gary and I probably have a good lunch once a year, but can I tell ya, it’s a massive lunch, massive!”

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Ex-MasterChef judges George Calombaris, Matt Preston and Gary Mehigan.

MasterChef 2.0

During the I’ve Got News For You interview, Calombaris revealed that he hasn’t watched the revamped MasterChef starring Andy Allen, Melissa Leong and Jock Zonfrillo who took over as judges in 2020.

“To be honest, I never watched it when I was on it,” he said. “I hate watching myself on television, it’s horrible.”

Despite not watching it, Calombaris said he’s happy that the reality show has “found a new progression”.

“This is a new phase, new generation, and that’s wonderful.

“If MasterChef’s successful, it means I’m successful, it needs to keep being successful, so I’m a big supporter of the show.

“I’m a big supporter of the three judges and I always wish it the best.”

MasterChef judges Melissa Leong, Andy Allen and Jock Zonfrillo

Underpayment scandal

In 2019, Calombaris’ company, MaDE Establishment, was fined $200,000 by the Fair Work Ombudsman after it was found to have underpaid staff at his restaurants by $7.8 million.

Speaking to I’ve Got News For You about the saga, Calombaris said: “We found the issue, we owned up, we paid back.

“A lot of the story that people don’t write about because it’s not cool enough or doesn’t get a headline is that we actually overpaid 49 per cent of our workforce that we never asked the money back for, and I wouldn’t of.

“I think the tough thing for me was, I thought by owing up, it’s the right thing to do, that’s how I grew up,” he continued.

“So for me, that was probably the thing that hurt the most, being called a ‘thief’.

“I’m proud of how we acted, I’m proud of what we did to fix the problem.”

New show

After a few years in the wilderness, Calombaris is now making a TV comeback.

He has a new cooking show on Channel 10 called Hungry, which also stars former MasterChef contestant Sarah Todd.

Feeling hungry? Look no further! 😋

Join George Calombaris and #MasterChefAU's Sarah Todd when #Hungry Premieres 6.30 Tonight on 10 and live stream on 10 Play. pic.twitter.com/KoMhrO8Hpj

— Channel 10 (@Channel10AU) November 25, 2022

“I think there’s a real human side to it,” he said about the six-part series which premiered on Saturday.

“Last week’s episode was called ‘The Indian Taxi Driver’,” Calombaris explained.

“There was an underlying conversation about racism there. We had a bit of a chat about having an Indian cultural background. (Why) he smells different to you, to me, to that person and the crap he cops late at night.

“We dig into it. We don’t generally have the answer but food is always the fuel to connect these conversations and to somehow fix the problem.”

Hungry continues on Channel 10 this Saturday at 6.30pm