MasterChef's Matt Preston blasts Ten: 'We'd agreed to the next series'

After it was revealed that he learned of his dumping via Instagram, MasterChef judge Matt Preston has divulged further details of the devastating moment he discovered Channel Ten’s shock decision.

The 57-year-old food critic, who won’t be returning to the reality show next year with Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris, says the trio had “agreed” on contract terms with the TV network, so stumbling upon the axing news while in a car on the way to a radio interview was a massive blow.

“It would probably have felt worse if I was by myself, but the fact I was with one of the publicists with Ten who had no idea and who was just aghast by the situation, especially about to go and do a national radio show, it was a bit of a shock,” he said on ABC radio.

MasterChef contract agreement

“We’d agreed on the offer with Ten” he continued, a comeback to Ten’s statement saying “10 has not been able to reach a commercial agreement”.

“We’d sent a note back to their offer, we’d agreed to the financial terms. We’d agreed to make the next series of MasterChef, and it was the other terms that fell down,” said Matt.

Last week Network Ten’s chief executive officer Paul Anderson, said in a statement, “Despite months of negotiation, 10 has not been able to reach a commercial agreement that was satisfactory to Matt, Gary and George.

“Australia is full of remarkable cooking talent and we can’t wait to introduce another group – and the next generation of exceptional judges – in season 12 of MasterChef Australia next year.”

It’s understood the decision is separate to embattled judge George’s recent underpayment saga, and according to The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, the trio were after a 40 per cent pay increase.

New TV plans

Rumours of the celeb chefs signing a deal with streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon have emerged over the past few days, but the TV trio have kept quite silent about on-screen ventures, till now.

Taking to Instagram over the weekend, Gary told fans it was “time to move on”, and a “different” sort of project on television was on his agenda.

“We are so proud,” he wrote on his social media account.

“But a mentor of ‘mine’ told me ‘never be afraid of change’. Time to move on, maybe work a little less, dig our fingers into something new and exciting and maybe make a different kind of TV.”

Meanwhile according to The Daily Telegraph, Gary, Matt and George recently formed their own production company called GGM Pty Ltd.

Now being able to sell themselves as a ‘package deal’, it’s been said the household names are eyeing off a deal with popular streaming service, Netflix, though none of the stars have commented on this.

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