Ex-MasterChef Australia judge George Calombaris opens up about alcohol struggles and former business woes
Appearing on the podcast Ouzo Talk, Calombaris detailed his spiral after his MAdE Establishment group had payroll issues, underpaying staff more than $7 million over a six year period.
The celebrity chef and Melbourne personality paid back all the staff's wages and superannuation, including a fine of $200,000.
It wasn't the only controversy to snag the disgraced star, in 2017 he was charged with assault following an altercation with a fan at the A-League grand final.
The conviction was overturned on appeal and the judge imposed a 12-month good behaviour bond while striking the criminal conviction from his permanent record.
Calombaris told the podcast it had been a difficult time.
'It was six months of pain you know, I had to go in and out of court three times, hire one of the best KC's of the time,' he said.
It was also around this period that he and fellow MasterChef judges Matt Preston and Gary Mehigan left the Channel 10 show due to contract negotiation breakdowns.
Then, when the pandemic hit in 2020, Calombaris found himself at rock bottom.
'After COVID hit, I'm suddenly sitting in Melbourne, which is shut for now two years, sitting with my pyjamas on … looking at my phone going there's no emails, there's nothing to do (and I) start drinking daily,' he said.
The 46-year-old told of how around three months in, he got in his car and drove down the road, and was found by his brother 'pissed as a fart'.
'And that was a moment, he really slapped it out of me and went enough is enough.'
But, it appears that the setbacks have not dampened the entrepreneurial spirit in Calombaris as he moved his successful venture Gazi from Melbourne to Sydney, where it looks likely to stay.
'Sydney's truly an international city, I've travelled everywhere in the world with my job and Sydney's in the top five cities in the world,' he said.
'I feel that there's this buzz here and I'm a part of this buzz and we've got lots of good plans here.'
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