Around 2000 people turned up to see Matt Preston, Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris (who were in Bengaluru for The World On A Plate event) in a special tête-à-tête with Maria Goretti on June 4.
On a cloudy, cool Saturday evening, the amphitheatre at UB City in Bengaluru, was buzzing with young kids, women and families who were all eager to see the Masterchef Australia judges. The crowd erupted into a thunderous applause when the judges walked onto the stage. And we also heard shouts of ‘I love you George’ in between. Matt, Gary and George revealed some interesting details while sharing their experiences. Here are some snippets from the evening…
Matt speak
When asked about his kids, Matt Preston said that he has two sons who are cricketers and added cheekily, “My sons will be cheaper than Shane Watson and they’ll probably win Bengaluru the IPL cup!”
As we all know, Matt loves his cravats and he says he has 400 of them. He earlier used to name each cravat after a person but stopped after one lady took offence. And he has 30 suits and takes 45 minutes in make-up!
One of Matt’s favourite pieces of clothing is a decade-old pair of red Speedo shorts. His wife, in fact, has told George that they should ‘burn them’.
Matt has reviewed both Gary and George’s restaurants as well when he was a food critic. And Gary and George laughed and said he’s banned from them now.
A food truck at the event
All about George
George studied French cuisine but went back to his roots of Greek cuisine as a chef. When asked what he does on a day off, George says he has 21 first cousins so it’s all about occasions and getting together in the Big Fat Greek Family!
From watching Masterchef Australia, we know George can’t take spicy food. Well, it looks like neither can his dad. So it’s genetic.
As they are famous, they do get stopped on the streets and other places but George said that he has clear rules in his head as to when it’s ok for people to disturb them. “Not when I am out having dinner with my family,” he said.
The Greek chef has two small kids with whom he Facetimes every day when he is travelling or not at home. George narrated how his son asks him, “Is it dark or light?” every time and George opens the curtains and shows him.
One of the phrases that became popular on the show thanks to George is ‘Boom Boom, shake the room’. The crowd cheered him and George promptly got up and said the phrase in an (apparently) Indian accent and the crowd burst out laughing.
Gary Mehigan conducting a Masterclass
Gary, the biker
It looks like Gary loves to ride and when he was in India last time, he took out a Royal Enfield with George as his passenger. And George thought he was going to get hit by the crazy Indian traffic.
Gary revealed he loves trance music and played some of it for the audience. The audience was delighted!
The chef also said he loves to make dosas and makes it at home. Of course, he went through numerous trials and errors before he got it right.
Gary has only two pairs of shoes and three blazers for the show – clearly unlike Matt.
When Gary gets angry, Matt and George go up to him and say, “Does Gawie need a hugsie wugsie?” Gary says, “Getting a hug from Matt is so good.” (And the audience wanted to promptly line up for hugs.)
Gary also narrated how he went to the gym to lose weight and get fit. So the trainer told him how in six months he’d rip the fat off him. Six months later, Gary had not lost any weight and the trainer tells him, “I think I am going to re-assess my goals.” Gary laughed and added, “I think this is the first time in the history of the gym this has happened.”
The Masterchef Australia show
The three judges spoke of how the Masterchef family has grown over the last eight years and how proud they were of the contestants. George said, “We nurture and protect the contestants. We are responsible for them.” They spoke about Kylie Millar for instance, who took part in Season 4, and though she didn’t win, she is working at Mugaritz, Spain, the sixth best restaurant in the world.
The show producers have also banned words on the show over the years and ‘yummy’ is one of them. But the three judges tend to sneak in some words onto the show and get away with it.
Matt, Gary and George have 17-hour days on the sets of Masterchef Australia but the people (around 200) they work with have been on the show since its inception. They each have their own spaces to unwind and relax during their hectic schedule. “We know each other well so we know when we each need space,” added Gary.
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