Adam Liaw blasts MasterChef judge

Former MasterChef winner Adam Liaw has hit back at the show which made him famous and sided with workers following the conclusion of the wage theft scandal.

The season two contestant made the defiant stance on Monday night’s Q&A, less than a week after ex-judge George Calombaris was fined $200,000 for underpaying his staff by $7.8million.

Cautiously candid

Although he didn’t directly address the situation, Adam spoke candidly about his experience in the food industry, revealing he was paid just $5 an hour when he first started out.

“Deterrence in terms of increasing penalties and putting people in prison for doing large-scale systemic wage theft is certainly something that definitely should be on the table,” he told the show’s studio audience.

After making the admission, Adam’s stance was prodded by guest host Fran Kelly, who asked if some of the offending chefs should be locked up.

“I cannot comment on [that],” Adam responded before giving a detailed analysis on payment in the food industry.

“If the goal is truly to resolve systemic underpayment of staff and hospitality, we need to look at other issues where we can help businesses to do this as well,” he continued.

“The awards for hospitality are difficult. We can look at simplifying that and making it more accessible for people who don't have large payroll facilities and large payroll operations.”

Fan favourite

Moments before the discussion on wage theft took place, the panel were asked who were among their picks for replacements - but Adam didn’t land on any of their lists.

However, the one-time home cook was undeterred, telling the audience “I don’t think anybody would not be interested in that job”.

His admission of interest comes just one day after season one runner-up Poh Ling Yeow told Yahoo Lifestyle her hat was also firmly in the ring.

“Of course it would be amazing, hell yeah I’d be keen,” she said.

“Being picked to be a judge is too overwhelming to even think about. It’s been very flattering, the overwhelming response but it not even something that I can dare to think about.”

The shockingly honest admission comes after a week-long media storm which began when judge George was fined by the Fair Work commission last Tuesday.

Pressure mounted in the days following, with fans and workers’ advocates alike calling for the popular chef to be sacked from the franchise.

But the onscreen trio - George, Matt Preston and Gary Mehigan - caused unanimous shock when each revealed they would be parting ways with the network after pay negotiations fell through.

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