Latest news with #GeorgeCalombaris
7NEWS
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- 7NEWS
Ex-MasterChef Australia judge George Calombaris opens up about alcohol struggles and former business woes
Former MasterChef Australia judge and hospitality entrepreneur George Calombaris has spoken of his battle with alcohol addiction after a series of scandals rocked his empire. Appearing on the podcast Ouzo Talk, Calombaris detailed his spiral after his MAdE Establishment group had payroll issues, underpaying staff more than $7 million over a six year period. The celebrity chef and Melbourne personality paid back all the staff's wages and superannuation, including a fine of $200,000. It wasn't the only controversy to snag the disgraced star, in 2017 he was charged with assault following an altercation with a fan at the A-League grand final. The conviction was overturned on appeal and the judge imposed a 12-month good behaviour bond while striking the criminal conviction from his permanent record. Calombaris told the podcast it had been a difficult time. 'It was six months of pain you know, I had to go in and out of court three times, hire one of the best KC's of the time,' he said. It was also around this period that he and fellow MasterChef judges Matt Preston and Gary Mehigan left the Channel 10 show due to contract negotiation breakdowns. Then, when the pandemic hit in 2020, Calombaris found himself at rock bottom. 'After COVID hit, I'm suddenly sitting in Melbourne, which is shut for now two years, sitting with my pyjamas on … looking at my phone going there's no emails, there's nothing to do (and I) start drinking daily,' he said. The 46-year-old told of how around three months in, he got in his car and drove down the road, and was found by his brother 'pissed as a fart'. 'And that was a moment, he really slapped it out of me and went enough is enough.' But, it appears that the setbacks have not dampened the entrepreneurial spirit in Calombaris as he moved his successful venture Gazi from Melbourne to Sydney, where it looks likely to stay. 'Sydney's truly an international city, I've travelled everywhere in the world with my job and Sydney's in the top five cities in the world,' he said. 'I feel that there's this buzz here and I'm a part of this buzz and we've got lots of good plans here.'
Perth Now
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Former MasterChef judge reveals secret addiction battle
Former MasterChef Australia judge and hospitality entrepreneur George Calombaris has spoken of his battle with alcohol addiction after a series of scandals rocked his empire. Appearing on the podcast Ouzo Talk, Calombaris detailed his spiral after his MAdE Establishment group had payroll issues, underpaying staff more than $7 million over a six year period. The celebrity chef and Melbourne personality paid back all the staff's wages and superannuation, including a fine of $200,000. It wasn't the only controversy to snag the disgraced star, in 2017 he was charged with assault following an altercation with a fan at the A-League grand final. The conviction was overturned on appeal and the judge imposed a 12-month good behaviour bond while striking the criminal conviction from his permanent record. The food at Gazi Sydney Credit: Instagram Calombaris told the podcast it had been a difficult time. 'It was six months of pain you know, I had to go in and out of court three times, hire one of the best KC's of the time,' he said. It was also around this period that he and fellow MasterChef judges Matt Preston and Gary Mehigan left the Channel 10 show due to contract negotiation breakdowns. Then, when the pandemic hit in 2020, Calombaris found himself at rock bottom. 'After COVID hit, I'm suddenly sitting in Melbourne, which is shut for now two years, sitting with my pyjamas on … looking at my phone going there's no emails, there's nothing to do (and I) start drinking daily,' he said. The food at Gazi Sydney Credit: Instagram The 46-year-old told of how around three months in, he got in his car and drove down the road, and was found by his brother 'pissed as a fart'. 'And that was a moment, he really slapped it out of me and went enough is enough.' But, it appears that the setbacks have not dampened the entrepreneurial spirit in Calombaris as he moved his successful venture Gazi from Melbourne to Sydney, where it looks likely to stay. 'Sydney's truly an international city, I've travelled everywhere in the world with my job and Sydney's in the top five cities in the world,' he said. 'I feel that there's this buzz here and I'm a part of this buzz and we've got lots of good plans here.' Lifeline: 13 11 14
NZ Herald
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
Ex-MasterChef judge George Calombaris reveals true extent of his alcohol addiction
Chef George Calombaris goes public on how he slipped into alcohol addiction. Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech. Chef George Calombaris goes public on how he slipped into alcohol addiction. Former MasterChef Australia star George Calombaris has revealed how a series of scandals lost his company $3 million and led to a private battle with alcohol addiction. The Greek-Australian chef joined the cooking show as a judge in 2009 and quickly became a fan favourite both on-screen and off. He went on to build a multimillion-dollar hospitality empire in the years that followed, but back-to-back scandals saw it take a massive financial hit. In 2017, the celebrity chef was involved in an altercation with a fan at the A-League grand final, and in 2019 he admitted to underpaying approximately 500 of his current and former employees $7.8 million in wages over a six-year period. That same year, Calombaris and fellow judges Matt Preston and Gary Mehigan left MasterChef after 12 seasons over contract negotiation breakdowns, and, when the pandemic hit in 2020, Calombaris found himself at rock bottom. Now in candid interview with Ouzo Talk, Calombaris details his spiral into alcohol addiction, which all came to a head when his brother found him drunk in his car one night.
News.com.au
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Ex-MasterChef judge George Calombaris reveals true extent of his alcohol addiction
Former MasterChef Australia star George Calombaris has revealed how a series of scandals lost his company $3 million and led to a private battle with alcohol addiction. The Greek-Australian chef joined the cooking show as a judge in 2009 and quickly became a fan favourite both on-screen and off. He went on to build a multimillion-dollar hospitality empire in the years that followed, but back-to-back scandals saw it take a massive financial hit. In 2017, the celebrity chef was involved in an altercation with a fan at the A-League grand final, and in 2019 he admitted to underpaying approximately 500 of his current and former employees $7.8 million in wages over a six-year period. That same year, Calombaris and fellow judges Matt Preston and Gary Mehigan left MasterChef after 12 seasons over contract negotiation breakdowns, and when the pandemic hit in 2020, Calombaris found himself at rock bottom. Now in candid interview with Ouzo Talk, Calombaris details his spiral into alcohol addiction, which all came to a head when his brother found him drunk in his car one night. 'After Covid hit, I'm suddenly sitting in Melbourne, which is shut for now two years, sitting with my pyjamas on … looking at my phone going there's no emails, there's nothing to do (and I) start drinking daily,' the star chef said. 'I'll never forget three months down the track I lost it one night. I got in my car, drove down the road, I don't know where [I was]. My brother found me pissed as a fart. 'And that was a moment, he really slapped it out of me and went enough is enough.' Calombaris and his Made Establishment group of companies have since paid back its staff's wages and superannuation. His company was also fined a $200,000 'contrition payment' at the time. 'We love in Australia [to] never let the truth get in the way of a good story,' Calombaris previously said in a statement. 'The truth of the matter is that we overpaid and underpaid 51 per cent of our crew and 49 per cent of them, we had 550 team members and we found the problem.' 'We went to Fair Work, we owned up and we paid.' As the scandal made headline news, the famed restaurateur was also charged with assault after he was seen shoving a 19-year-old fan at the A-League grand final, while allegedly being heckled about the wage controversy. The chef successfully had his conviction for assault overturned in a 2018 appeal and a judge imposed a 12-month good behaviour bond while stricking the criminal conviction from his permanent record. 'It was six months of pain you know, I had to go in and out of court three times, hire one of the best KC's of the time,' Calombaris said in the podcast. 'I reckon it cost around 3 million bucks that, in loss of endorsements … Ridiculous, stupid, I would have rather taken that 3 million and given it to charity.'
Daily Mail
13-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
MasterChef star George Calombaris reveals secret alcohol addiction battle after losing $3million and hitting rock bottom during a series of scandals: I was drinking daily in my pyjamas'
MasterChef star George Calombaris has opened up about his alcohol addiction battle after losing $3million and hitting rock bottom during a series of scandals. Calombaris became a household name when he joined MasterChef as a judge in 2009, rapidly building a restaurant empire on the back of his success. But a decade later, the once-celebrated cooking icon abruptly fell from grace in a $7.8milion wage underpayment scandal and assault of a teenage soccer fan. His company Made Establishment (MAdE) went into voluntary administration and his restaurants were shut down. 'After Covid hit, I'm suddenly sitting in Melbourne, which is shut for now two years, sitting with my pyjamas on … looking at my phone going there's no emails, there's nothing to do (and I) start drinking daily,' the chef admitted on the Ouzo Talk podcast. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. 'I'll never forget three months down the track I lost it one night. I got in my car, drove down the road, I don't know where (I was). My brother found me pissed as a fart. 'And that was a moment, he really slapped it out of me and went enough is enough.' His company MAdE collapsed in February 2020 after being ordered by the Fair Work Ombudsman to pay workers millions in unpaid penalty rates. Calombaris was personally hit with a $200,000 penalty for the wage rorts but always insisted the underpayments were simply a mistake he blamed on inexperience. The ex-hospitality boss said the payment error was detected after the company made a self-report, but the publicity that followed made it impossible to keep his 21 businesses alive. Calombaris explained it creatted 'six months of pain' and he lost around '$3million in endorsements'. 'Ridiculous, stupid, I would have rather taken that 3 million and given it to charity,' he added. His reputation was further damaged when he was caught on camera attacking a 19-year-old at an A-League grand final between Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory. Calombaris was convicted of assault and fined $1,000, but the damage to his name was so bad his conviction was later overturned. He eventually picked himself after waking up after a big booze-filled night and realising his life had to change. The family moved to Arthurs Seat, in Victoria's Mornington Peninsula in March 2020 and Calombaris reignited his passion for cooking by becoming the executive chef of his family's household. At first, he was afraid the stigma from his past life would follow his family, but was relieved to be welcomed in by the community as fellow school parents immediately invited him into their conversations. By slowing down his lifestyle and beginning to engage with the community, he found a sense of purpose, cooking meals and sharing them with friends as well as helping Melbourne business associates struggling amid the pandemic. He previously said the one positive from his downfall was having more time with his family after he frequently missed major milestones during his action-packed career.
