In a surprising turn of events, Masterchef Australia, one of the most iconic and cooking shows ever, which is in its 11th season, will see a huge change from season 12 onwards. The audience will not see the familiar faces of Matt Preston, Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris as the judges of the cookery show, beginning next season. The announcement that the trio was dropped was made on Tuesday, ahead of the season 11 finale. Goa: MasterChef Australia Contestant Sarah Todd’s Restaurant Catches Fire in Vagator

In the announcement on Masterchef Australia’s official Instagram page, also carried the photo of the three judges and was captioned – ‘After 11 sensational seasons, we bid a fond farewell to our judges - Matt Preston, Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris. For more than a decade, #MasterChefAU has celebrated Australian food and made the culinary dreams of everyday home cooks come true. We thank Matt, George and Gary for being a part of this remarkable MasterChef legacy!’

Check Out The Post Below:

Also, a statement issued by Network 10’s CEO Paul Anderson read, “Despite months of negotiation, 10 has not been able to reach a commercial agreement that was satisfactory to Matt, Gary and George. MasterChef Australia has always been about ordinary Australians doing extraordinary things for the love of food and we believe it is very important to continue that ethos. 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.” Sachin Tendulkar is One of My Biggest Heroes says MasterChef Australia Judge George Calombaris

Well, fans have been speculating that this sudden move has got everything to do with recent revelations that chef George Calombaris was underpaying his restaurants’ staff had underpaid staff at his restaurants by nearly $8m. admitting to his doings, George had also told the media that he will be repaying  515 current and former employees who were underpaid between 2011 and 2017.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 23, 2019 03:59 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).