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Matt Preston learnt of MasterChef exit on the way to interview

"We’d agreed to make the next series of MasterChef, and it was the other terms that fell down.”

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Matt Preston learned he had been dumped by 10 last Tuesday afternoon on his way to a Triple M  interview about the MasterChef finale via Instagram.

“It would probably have felt worse if I was by myself, but the fact I was with one of the publicists with 10 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 this morning. Yikes.

Preston this morning said the judges had agreed on money with the network.

“I’m not a fan of people building a story on unnamed sources…

“We’d agreed on the offer with 10,” he said on the ABC. “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. I think there are people out there a bit nervous in the media, writing stuff that possibly wasn’t true.”

He said controversy around George Calombaris played no part in their contract negotiations.

“No one said it’s George’s fault. I’m sure it had nothing to do with it, there’s a much bigger picture at play here.”

He also said a break was the next logical step.

“I talked to Gary on the weekend and he was down walking the dog on the beach. That’s the next step. I think TV is a something longer term in the future.

“I’ll continue to serve out my contract and do what I can and just enjoy the fact I get to do stuff that absolutely terrifies me, like this.”

The Herald Sun has also reported Preston is contracted with 10 until the end of the year.

You can hear the interview at ABC.

Source: news.com.au

15 Responses

  1. In response to “ toucandance“ the judges do more then 4 months work. Everywhere they go, every TEN show they appear, MasterChef is the reason. “Gary from Masterchef” etc. not to mention overseas press tours and constant series promotion. Without all that the show would not sell as well. Jump on a few Asian and South Asian websites. This will be a hard sell for the next 2 years for TEN, this series will need to prove itself all over again. Also remember some of these international chefs like Blumenthal, Lawson, Stone, Stein and Bottura don’t do it for free, Curtis may be contracted via his Coles deal but the fees paid for these would be $$$$ and the fact there is respect for the judges.

  2. It was interesting hearing this play out live on air while I was listening to Triple M. After 11 years, 10 can’t even treat them with the respect of a face to face meeting to confirm the news? Seems like a low blow

  4. Entertainment journalist Peter Ford tweeted that he had leaked documents revealing the celebrity judges were demanding $1.5 million each, guaranteed for two years. In an interview on radio station 2GB, Ford said: “My information is that they wanted $1.5 million each on a guaranteed 2-year contract. They were willing to come down to $1.2 million but Channel Ten who were getting instructions from New York – this is the kind of money that even Paul Anderson can’t sign off on – CBS had to sign off on it and they were told ‘nope, we’re not going to do it, not in the current commercial environment’.”

    1. That is odd. So CBS will throw big money at untested shows like The Masked Singer and DWTS but yet won’t commit to large contracts for the stars of a proven successful format.

      1. Yes, it’s a successful format but ratings were getting lower and lower each year. From series one, I think the ratings were in the millions for the finale. Was less than a million for this year. Maybe the timing was wrong too (calombaris-gate).

        1. Flying in Lindsay Lohan wouldn’t be cheap. Nor would Craig Revel Horwood. And DWTS is likely to be renewed despite lower ratings than MC.

        2. Ratings for everything is down, you cannot compare ratings from year one to now, Netflix, Prime, Stan and every other service were not around. Plus this is seen across the globe by many millions, it is a good money earner for Endemol and Ten and the contestants and especially the judges have a lot to do with this.

          1. Yes, you’re right about those other services not being around but the drop in ratings can’t be ignored. For series 1 finale it was close to 4 million. This years finale drew only a quarter of that. I am also reading that the package the 3 judges were after was for $9million over 2 years (apparently for only 4 months work) …

            news.com.au/entertainment/tv/reality-tv/all-three-masterchef-judges-leave-show/news-story/bf2991b1ca0c5d66e593850029caa1b5

  5. TV is a dog eat dog world especially now with competition from Stream Services. Maybe network TEN thought that a refresh was in order at least with the judges. Before TEN/10 was rescued by CBS MasterChef was the only shining light maybe Bachelor franchise, so they had to keep it going. I am bot sure the show would have survived this long if what happened to TEN over the last 8 years or so didn’t. Big Brother on TEN didn’t last as long.

  6. That’s a pretty low act on 10’s behalf if true. Not the way to treat someone after 11 years of loyal service! The sooner the 10 slate of execs is wiped clean the better.

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