MasterChef judge Matt Preston reveals his next gig

It’s been just days since MasterChef’s judging trio announced they would be leaving the series, but one star appears to already have his next gig lined up.

Matt Preston took to Instagram on Thursday to tell followers he’s returning to the airwaves (albeit only temporarily) in a very different capacity to his eleven-year stint at the cooking show’s helm.

“Looking forward to guesting on #ABCMelbourne's breakfast show next week with Jacinta Parsons,” he wrote.

Early start

Matt’s spot is expected to last from Monday until Friday and will see the food critic join Jacinta every day from 5:30am while her co-host Sami Shah is on leave.

His feature comes just days after Network 10 famously parted ways with MasterChef’s longtime judges - Matt, George Calombaris and Gary Mehigan - after contract negotiations fell through.

The network’s chief executive Paul Anderson, confirmed the split in a statement which concluded ‘a commercial agreement’ with the trio couldn’t be reached.

He went on to thank Gary, George and Matt for their contributions over the past 11 years, before adding that this does not mean the end of MasterChef.

“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.”

The shock announcement came in the wake of George Calombaris being found to have underpaid staff by more than $7.83 million across his restaurant empire.

This prompted workers’ unions and many of the show’s fans to call for him to be sacked — a situation which was ultimately avoided when the split became public.

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