Big V interview: How health scare has changed Gary Mehigan’s life for the better
When Gary Mehigan’s resting heart rate suddenly shot through the roof his mind went to a dark place: “My biggest fear when it happened was this is payback”.
Victoria
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Iconic MasterChef judge Gary Mehigan has opened up on his terrifying heart scare, one that he feared was “payback” for pushing himself to the limit as an ambitious young chef.
Mehigan revealed he began to feel “nauseous and not quite right” during Victoria’s Covid pandemic lockdown, something he initially chalked up to his body adjusting to not being constantly on the go.
“It was actually the first break in my career of any kind of length for 30 odd years,” Mehigan said.
“Maybe I was just paying attention more and had time to think about my health rather than just being busy running around and functioning on adrenaline all the time.”
However, a frightening incident where his resting heart rate went “through the roof” saw him ditch the notorious “Dr. Google” and seek immediate medical help.
“They diagnosed me with atrial fibrillation and told me I was having an episode,” Mehigan said.
“They put me on Beta blockers to get my heart rate down and from there I sought further treatment.”
Mehigan, 58, said he initially worried his heart problem was lifestyle related. Atrial fibrillation is an irregular and often very rapid heart beat. The condition can increase the risk of stroke, heart failure and other heart-related issues.
“The first thought I had was that it was something mechanical, maybe something that was my fault, that I hadn’t been as careful as I should have been with my diet and the things that we can control like the over consumption of food or alcohol or too many saturated fats or sugars,” he said.
“My biggest fear when it happened was this is payback for too many long hours, high stress and poor diet as a young chef when you’re working all the long hours and cooking beautiful food and going home and eating a cheese sandwich.”
Tests showed he had no underlying health issues that could have contributed to the irregular heartbeat.
“Essentially the plumbing, so to speak, is working fine — the arteries, your cardiovascular health — but it is the electrical impulses that control the rhythm of the heart that are the problem,’ he said.
“I’m not sure if it was a wake-up call, but it was a relief to know that there was treatment available and that I had a plan of action and part of that was, first of all, to have medication to get on top of the irregular heartbeat.
“I went through drugs which made me feel terrible. I’m normally an up early, busy, driven individual. I have never felt glum or down and on those drugs, I was just knocked for six. Glum is the only way I could describe it. It really took the energy out of me.
“So I asked the specialist if there was another option and I had Ablation, which is now a fairly common procedure, where essentially they go in and they scar those nerves (in the heart) that are causing damage.
“I had that procedure three and a half years ago and so far so good.”
Mehigan said since his atrial fibrillation diagnosis he has discovered the condition is quite common and that even his mother had it.
Raising awareness around heart health is now a driving passion, and Mehigan has become an ambassador for the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute.
Based in Melbourne, the institute will mark its centenary of research and care in 2026.
Mehigan has come on board to share his personal health experience, develop a library of healthy and nutritious recipes for the institute and bring attention to the work of the esteemed organisation particularly around diet, heart disease and diabetes.
“Two of the big health issues in Australia are diabetes and heart health,” Mehigan said.
“I am very happy to help bring the Baker Institute’s evidence-based health information to the wider community. It has been doing important world leading research for almost 100 years and as Australians I think we should be quite proud of that. What I like about the Baker Institute is they’re singing from the fact sheets.”
A celebrated chef, author and TV performer now ensconced on the Mornington Peninsula, Mehigan grew up on Hayling Island in Hampshire, England.
He began his food journey at the famed Connaught Hotel in London before moving to Australia, with his wife Mandy, in 1991.
“I think I was in London for six or seven years, and I was just like ‘it’s time to go somewhere else’,” he said.
“I dreamt of France, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and America, but I worked with a couple of Australians and, yeah, they just kind of captivated me.
“I had this idea of going to Australia and then going north into Asia, but I got to Australia and fell in love with it.
“I remember sitting in Fitzroy Gardens the first day we arrived, it was April 10, 1991, a beautiful day, clear skies, and I just said to Mandy, ‘I think we’re staying, this is nice’.”
After working at the Sofitel Hotel, Mehigan teamed up with fellow chef, Ray Capaldi, to open Fenix restaurant in Richmond in 2000 and it was there his TV skills were honed, thanks in part to Bert Newton.
Taking up media opportunities was key to lifting the profile of the restaurant.
“I ended up doing Good Morning Australia fairly regularly with Bert Newton,” Mehigan said.
“I remember him turning around and saying to me early on, ‘Now Gary, remember I’m the funny guy,’ because I was trying to be funny on television. He basically told me to ‘shut up’ and just come in and cook, which I did, and it went on from there.”
Mehigan went on to host Good Chef, Bad Chef and then Boys Weekend with Manu Feildel, Miguel Maestre and Adrian Richardson before the chance to audition for an untried new show called MasterChef came up.
Mehigan, George Calombaris and Matt Preston eventually emerged from the exhaustive audition process as the inaugural MasterChef Australia judges after producers spotted the trio’s “obvious chemistry.”
Launching in 2009, the show was an instant hit and over 11 seasons attracted boom ratings and guest appearances from the likes of the Dalai Lama and Prince Charles (now King Charles) and Camilla Parker Bowles.
And then the ride came to a sudden, painful and unexpected end for the trio after Channel 10 did not renew their contracts in late 2019.
Mehigan is filled with gratitude for MasterChef being part of his life.
“MasterChef was a gift to all of us,” he said.
“We had so many fantastic experiences. It has been part of, for me, a wonderful career, thus far.
“What I love is the fact that you’ve now got two ex-contestants in Poh Ling Yeow and Andy Allen that have taken the mantle (as judges). It’s a wonderful kind of legacy; really fantastic.”
For Mehigan the MasterChef thrill ride was undeniably life changing and enriching.
“MasterChef, it was just one of those things that I said, ‘Yes, why not,’ to,” he said.
“There was no guarantee it would go anywhere and it just surprised all of us and took all of our careers in an entirely different direction.
“MasterChef was aired in something like 140 different countries and, strangely, the seasons that we (Mehigan, Calombaris and Preston) are on are still being aired in the most random places.
“Somebody will bump into me and go, ‘Wow, you look tired’, and I will go ‘Why?’ and it turns out they are watching season six in, I don’t know, Ireland. I will go, ‘That was 10 years ago, I’m just getting older, I was obviously a lot younger on the show that you’re watching.’
“A friend just contacted me, she lives in Calgary in Canada, and season three is screening there, I think.
“It has become a little evergreen, in a sense. I was in Sri Lanka recently and they’re still watching us on television there as well as the new series, so that’s great.”
The MasterChef ‘OGs’ remain close and team up a couple of times a year for international opportunities.
They have appeared in two seasons of the series The Ultimate Homechef of India and have been doing dinner events in India and Sri Lanka for the company Conosh.
The trio will be in India in late July/August for another series of dinners with Conosh.
Preston and Mehigan also work together with Luxury Escapes doing international food tours.
As for working together again on TV in Australia, Mehigan says “never say never.”
“I’d love to work with the boys again. It was a fabulous period in our careers with so many new experiences and such wonderful food never to be forgotten,” he said.
“I think for all of us to come back together at this time in our lives, as long as it is fun and as long as we are doing what we love, which is all around food and people, then I am sure we would all jump at the opportunity.”
Meanwhile, one TV concept Mehigan is working on is a show based around healthy eating and education with the Baker Institute.
“We are hoping to get a ‘chop and chat’ TV show off the ground that features celebrities, patients, specialists and experts and will be something that’s interesting, marketable and viewable,” he said.
Fast fact questions:
What was your first job?
My first official job was at the Connaught Hotel, London, but before that my first ever job was glass collecting in a bar in a holiday camp on Hayling Island when I was 14. That was my first exposure to hospitality and I loved it.
If you weren’t in a career based around food, what would you be doing?
If you want a short answer, I think I’d be sad. I’ve been very lucky in my career that while the early days were very hard work and I often look back and wonder how I survived, I have worked with some amazing people from all over the world. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.
Name five people alive or dead you would invite to a dinner party.
I’ve put together a number of authors that I’ve enjoyed recently; William Dalrymple, Christopher Hitchens, Billy Connolly, Stanley Tucci and either my grandfather or the Dalai Lama.
What book should everyone read?
The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan. I’m a bit of a history buff.
If you could live anywhere in the world besides Melbourne, where would it be?
The south of France
What was your first concert?
Alison Moyet
What advice would you give to your 18-year-old self?
Choose the path that maybe seems most unlikely and live the surprise – and live that surprise without regrets.
What was your first car?
A lime green 1972 Morris Marina.
Current car?
Ineos Grenadier
Do you have a career regret?
If there’s anything that I would love to be young enough to do again, I always dreamt of working in France for one of the big French chefs like Paul Bocuse or Alain Senderens or Alain Passard or the Troisgros Brothers.
This year, I’m most looking forward to …
Working with the Baker Institute. In the first instance I have created 12 delicious and healthy recipes, but I am looking forward to promoting their fabulous work.
The one thing I’d love to change about Victoria is …
I think we’re lacking a common inspiration at the moment.
The one thing I love most about Melbourne is …
The weather, I really love the weather. I love that we can rely on a wonderful spring and autumn and I love that we have four distinct seasons.
Originally published as Big V interview: How health scare has changed Gary Mehigan’s life for the better
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