‘Should I have taken the money and the safe option?’ Matt Preston reveals he feared he’d made a mistake quitting MasterChef after pay negotiations broke down
Matt Preston left MasterChef last year – along with fellow judges George Calombaris and Gary Mehigan – after a reported pay dispute with Channel Ten.
And the food critic has admitted there were ‘dark times’ where he wondered if he’d made the right choice.
Speaking to this week’s Stellar magazine, the 59-year-old admitted: ‘There were definite dark moments when I sat there and said to myself, ‘What have I done?’
Decisions: Matt Preston (pictured) left MasterChef last year – along with fellow judges George Calombaris and Gary Mehigan – after a reported pay dispute with Channel Ten. In this week’s Stellar, the food critic admits he wondered if he’d made the right choice
”Have I made the right decision? Should I have taken the money and the safe option and stayed?”
The culinary expert went on to say he always intended to stay by his fellow judges.
‘We always said that we would stay together or go together,’ he says. ‘On the show we always lined up together: Gary, George and myself.
The 59-year-old said: ‘There were definite dark moments when I sat there and said to myself, ‘What have I done? Have I made the right decision? Should I have taken the money and the safe option and stayed?” Pictured with George Calombaris (right) and Gary Mehigan (left)
Matt is now assured he made the right decision, adding: ”I asked myself a really simple question: ‘Is this the worst thing that could happen career wise?’ And the answer was no’
‘If one of us wasn’t there, we would refuse to narrow the gap or stand in someone else’s place. Because it didn’t feel right.’
Matt is now assured he made the right decision, adding: ”I asked myself a really simple question: ‘Is this the worst thing that could happen career wise?’ And the answer was no.’
A new role came calling quickly, with Matt taking on a role on Channel Seven’s new cooking show Plate of Origin.
He will join chef Manu Feildel and his former MasterChef co-judge Gary Mehigan.
In July last year, Matt bid farewell to MasterChef in an emotional Instagram post, writing: Thank you so very much for supporting @MasterChef over the last 11 years. We were really keen to continue but we were unable to agree to all terms for the new contract’
Back at work: A new role came calling quickly, with Matt taking on a role on Channel Seven’s new cooking show Plate of Origin. He will join chef Manu Feildel (centre) and his former MasterChef co-judge Gary Mehigan (right)
Plate Of Origin will see 10 teams from different countries compete in a ‘world cup’ style cooking battle and will premiere later this year.
In July last year, Matt bid farewell to MasterChef in an emotional Instagram post.
‘Thank you so very much for supporting @MasterChef over the last 11 years. We have loved every single moment. It is however with a heavy heart that I can confirm that season 11 was our last,’ he began.
‘We were really keen to continue but we were unable to agree to all terms for the new contract,’ he added.
Read more: In this week’s Stellar Magazine