Network 10 has announced Matt Preston, Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris will not return to MasterChef next year.
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.”
Media outlets have reported the trio were on salaries over $1million and were seeking pay rises of up to 40%.
The move by Ten follows WA Tourism dumping Calombaris yesterday as the face of its food and wine campaign.
WA Tourism took action after the Melbourne restaurateur was ordered to pay a $200,000 “contrition payment” after a Fair Work Australia investigation concluded his business empire had underpaid 515 staff by $7.8 million over six years.
WA Tourism removed social media content featuring Calombaris for the campaign, entitled Create Your Own Gourmet Escape in WA, and ordered a television advertisement starring the chef to be pulled.
WA Tourism Minister Paul Papalia said: “People should pay their employees and what they are owed and what they deserve and that’s really disappointing.
“What George Calombaris has done is terrible.”
A spokeswoman said Tourism WA would seek to recoup part of the cost of the contract from Calombaris.
Ten originally stated its support for Calombaris in the face of increasing calls for him to be sacked.
“George and Made Establishment have reached an agreement with the Fair Work Ombudsman in relation to this matter," it said. "George has the support of Network 10. We will not be making any further comment.”
Calombaris has apologised for his actions, but more than 22,000 people signed a petition calling for him to be sacked from MasterChef.
“George should pay a serious price for this massive theft of workers’ wages,” the petition read.
“Channel Ten should stop making excuses for this serial wage thief.”
PR guru Patrick Southam from Reputation Edge told Mumbrella that Network Ten’s original stance was a “massive cop out”, but was shocked by the decision to walk away from Calombaris and his co-stars.
“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 season finale air will air tonight.
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