“The worst time of my life”: Calombaris reflects on $7.8m wage scandal
George Calombaris has described his $7.8 million underpayment saga as “the worst time of my life”, opening up about the fallout while appearing on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here.
The chef — best known to many as a MasterChef Australia judge from 2009 to 2019 — spoke about the scandal during Monday night’s episode, revisiting what he says was a turning point personally and professionally.
“We did a full audit of the business and we found out of our 550 team members, we underpaid 49 per cent of them and overpaid 51 per cent of them,” he said.
Calombaris told viewers that once the discrepancy was identified, he chose to report it to workplace regulator Fair Work Australia in 2017.
“We owned up, we paid back and that is something that I know and the people around me know,” he added.
But he said the reputational impact was immediate and brutal.
“It was carnage,” he said, adding: “It was the worst time of my life because, within a day, 30 per cent of my revenue dropped.”
Reflecting on how quickly work dried up, Calombaris said the shift from constant activity to silence was jarring.
“It was the weirdest feeling, you've suddenly gone from your phone buzzing all day long, emails, MasterChef, restaurants, blah, blah, blah, to nothing,” he said of the negative publicity he received.
He also admitted the period took a toll and that he turned to alcohol to cope.
“I was binge drinking and then one day, my best man found me in a bush down the road, literally, and slapped it out of me,” he said.
The moment, he said, helped force a reset, making him realise “enough was enough”.
Calombaris said he’s made mistakes but would “take full responsibility” for what happened, adding that he’d come out of it “stronger” and “more grateful”.
Fair Work Australia reported in 2019 that Calombaris’ hospitality group MADE Establishment Pty Ltd had repaid employees more than $7.8 million in wages and superannuation.
Jonathan Jackson, 29th January 2026
