Australian chef, restaurateur and one-time MasterChef judge, George Calombaris is set to make a television comeback.
Calombaris fell from grace in 2019 when his restaurant company MAdE Establishment Group admitted to underpaying staff by millions.
His time on TV juggernaut MasterChef came to an end shortly after that.
However, Calombaris will return to the small screen later this month – back with Network 10 in a new show called Hungry.
Sarah Todd, a former MasterChef contestant, will join Calombaris on the show, which is billed as a “gritty food journey that isn’t afraid to tap into the stories that matter”.
The show will see Calombaris explore his favourite eateries in suburban Melbourne and discover the inspiration behind some of the city’s top restaurants.
“Hungry will show viewers how our diverse population innovates and ignites the culinary movement in Australia; it will tap into the nostalgia that makes soul food taste so good and it tackles how to solve food wastage issues through simple sustainability cooking hacks,” they said in a statement.
Calombaris and Todd shot the pilot for the program in late 2021.
“Hungry has heart and soul and it’ll make you want to get out and meet the people who are making these dishes come alive,” he said.
Todd, a classically trained chef who honed her crafty at London’s distinguished Le Cordon Bleu cooking school, starred in season six of MasterChef where she gained a legion of fans, many in India.
She went on to open three restaurants in India as well as releasing cookbooks, My Indian Kitchen and The Healthy Model Cookbook.
“Bringing Hungry to life has been a highlight of my career. It has always been so important to me to make sure the food I cook is more than just the ingredients,” Todd said.
“It has been so fun to team up with George again and explore Melbourne in and outside of the kitchen together.”
The six-episode series will see Calombaris and Todd meet the likes of Olympic athlete Morgan Mitchell, restaurateur Scott Pickett, chef Tony Nicolini, Daylesford Longhouse co-founders Ronnen Goren and Trace Streeter, and author Mariam Issa.
What happened to George Calombaris?
Already an acclaimed chef and successful restaurateur, Calombaris became a co-host of MasterChef in 2009.
In 2019, it emerged that MAdE Establishment underpaid 515 current and former employees by $7.8 million.
The scandal saw the demise of MAdE Establishment and most of its venues, and resulted in Calombaris being dropped from a lucrative tourism campaign in Western Australia.
“He’s very apologetic. He’s sorry for what has happened, but he wants people to understand he’s not a wage thief,” a source close to Calombaris told The New Daily back in 2019.
He wasn’t fired from the show, but later in 2019 Calombaris wrapped up MasterChef with judges Matt Preston and Gary Mehigan after failing to come to a deal with Network 10.
At the 2017 A-League grand final between Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC, Calombaris assaulted a 19-year-old.
The altercation happened after the fellow spectator heckled the chef, making remarks about his family. Calombaris pleaded guilty, and was convicted.
Calombaris said in 2022 he was left with “nothing” and his self-worth was diminished by the saga.
‘I went from being on the biggest television show in Australia, flying, with 21 restaurants, to nothing at all,’ he told the Herald Sun.
He did get back in the TV game briefly in 2021, when he participated on The Masked Singer.
However, not all viewers were happy about him getting a platform on the show, with some taking to social media to question his involvement.
Hungry premieres on Network 10 on Saturday, November 26, at 6.30pm
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