Matt Preston reveals he was left blindsided after being fired MasterChef Australia in 2019: ‘We had no idea’

Matt Preston revealed on Monday he was left blindsided after he and fellow hosts George Calombaris and Gary Mehigan were fired from MasterChef Australia in 2019.

The culinary expert, 62, told KIIS FM’s Will & Woody that the decision to end his contract came out of nowhere and appeared to be a financially motivated.

‘We had no idea. It’s a business decision in these things. I said at the time, you make the decision, you go, “We can save some money maybe”, and then boom, you go the other way,’ he began.

‘We had 11 years on that show and that’s what happens and the post had gone out that they were going to replace us as judges.’

Preston added he learned of the shock decision at an unfortunate time, just as he had finished a radio interview with Will and Woody in 2019.

‘I had been on air with you and none of us were looking at our phone, so we just had a normal chat. 

‘And then I went out and then at that moment I was like, ding ding ding. Oh, okay. All right. The biggest Australian exclusive just walked out of the room,’ he added.

He and fellow MasterChef judges, George Calombaris and Gary Mehigan, were ousted from the popular cooking show in July 2019. 

The culinary expert, 62, told KIIS FM’s Will & Woody that the decision to end his contract came out of nowhere and appeared to be financially motivated

The London-born star previously opened up about Channel 10’s shock decision to end his contract after 11 years.  

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, the chef revealed he learnt his contract had been terminated after he couldn’t agree on terms with the network. 

‘We were happy with what was being offered, in fact we had accepted Ten’s financial offer to make the next series of MasterChef. We just failed to agree on the other terms,’ he told the publication.   

‘We had no idea. It’s a business decision in these things. I said at the time, you make the decision, you go, “We can save some money maybe”, and then boom, you go the other way,’ Matt began 

In 2019, Channel 10 confirmed Matt, alongside his fellow veteran judges, were not returning to the show, claiming they were unable to agree on a wage increase.

The trio were replaced by celebrity chefs Andy Allen, Melissa Leong and Jock Zonfrillo, who hosted the show from 2020 – 2023.

Allen is the only one of those three still on the show, as Jock tragically died on April 30 and Melissa Leong announced in October she was leaving the show.

Next year, Allen will judge alongside series one runner-up-turned celebrity cook Poh Ling Yeow and French celebrity chef Jean-Christophe Novelli.

Preston added he learned of the shock decision at an unfortunate time, just as he had finished a radio interview with Will and Woody in 2019