George Calombaris Opens Up About Alcohol Addiction and Scandals

MasterChef star George Calombaris has opened up about his alcohol addiction battle after losing $3million and hitting rock bottom during a series of scandals.

Calombaris became a household name when he joined MasterChef as a judge in 2009, rapidly building a restaurant empire on the back of his success.

But a decade later, the once-celebrated cooking icon abruptly fell from grace in a $7.8milion wage underpayment scandal and assault of a teenage soccer fan.

His company Made Establishment (MAdE) went into voluntary administration and his restaurants were shut down.

‘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,’ the chef admitted on the Ouzo Talk podcast.

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MasterChef star George Calombaris has opened up about his alcohol addiction battle after losing $3million and hitting rock bottom during a series of scandals

‘I’ll never forget three months down the track I lost it one night. I got in my car, drove down the road, I don’t know where (I was). My brother found me pissed as a fart.

‘And that was a moment, he really slapped it out of me and went enough is enough.’

His company MAdE collapsed in February 2020 after being ordered by the Fair Work Ombudsman to pay workers millions in unpaid penalty rates.

Calombaris was personally hit with a $200,000 penalty for the wage rorts but always insisted the underpayments were simply a mistake he blamed on inexperience.

The ex-hospitality boss said the payment error was detected after the company made a self-report, but the publicity that followed made it impossible to keep his 21 businesses alive.

Calombaris explained it creatted ‘six months of pain’ and he lost around ‘$3million in endorsements’.

‘Ridiculous, stupid, I would have rather taken that 3 million and given it to charity,’ he added.

His reputation was further damaged when he was caught on camera attacking a 19-year-old at an A-League grand final between Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory.

‘After Covid hit, I’m suddenly sitting in Melbourne looking at my phone going there’s no emails, there’s nothing to do (and I) start drinking daily,’ the chef admitted on the Ouzo Talk podcast

Calombaris was convicted of assault and fined $1,000, but the damage to his name was so bad his conviction was later overturned.

He eventually picked himself after waking up after a big booze-filled night and realising his life had to change.

The family moved to Arthurs Seat, in Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula in March 2020 and Calombaris reignited his passion for cooking by becoming the executive chef of his family’s household.

At first, he was afraid the stigma from his past life would follow his family, but was relieved to be welcomed in by the community as fellow school parents immediately invited him into their conversations.

By slowing down his lifestyle and beginning to engage with the community, he found a sense of purpose, cooking meals and sharing them with friends as well as helping Melbourne business associates struggling amid the pandemic.

He previously said the one positive from his downfall was having more time with his family after he frequently missed major milestones during his action-packed career.