Two Ex-Masterchef Judges Are Joining Forces For A Brand New Cooking Show
And they're bringing a 'My Kitchen Rules' superstar with them.
For diehard fans of Masterchef, there was something distinctly heartbreaking about the dissolution of the show’s long-time judging panel.
Matt Preston, George Calombaris and Gary Mehigan had been with the show since its very inception. So when it was announced that none of them would be returning for the show’s newest season, it rather felt like the walls had come crumbling down; as though it had been announced that The Simpsons was set to lose Homer and Marge.
Making the whole thing worse, the announcement came in the middle of a scandal over Calombaris’s alleged habit of underpaying his workers. That media furore was never provided as the reason for the judges’ exit — a pay dispute was cited as the straw that broke the camel’s back — but it still cast a dark shadow over the proceedings.
Sure, a new Masterchef judging panel has already been announced. And sure, the three new faces seem fresh, and interesting. But for the dyed-in-the-wool fans, it seemed like something had been lost.
Well, those fans should despair no more. Preston and Mehigan have teamed up for a new show on a rival network, and this time, they’re bringing along My Kitchen Rules‘ Manu Feildel with them.
Yep, the three celebrity chefs have teamed up for a new show called Plate of Origin. As The Sydney Morning Herald reports, the reality cuisine show will pit dishes from across the world against one another, in a bid to discover which international delicacy will come out on top.
Plate of Origin is set to debut in 2020. That means that fans of cooking shows will have rather a stacked year next year. After all, between this new project, My Kitchen Rules, and a fresh-look Masterchef, you’ll have enough shots of pan-fried salmon to keep you going for a very, very long time.