Matt Preston | |
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.jpg) Preston in 2016 | |
| Born | (1961-07-21)21 July 1961 (age 64) London, UK |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1990−present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Website | MattPreston.com.au |
Matt Preston (born 21 July 1961) is an English-Australian food critic, writer,food journalist, television and radio presenter.
Preston has a weekly national food column that appears inNewsCorp's metro newspapers. He is also a senior editor forDelicious. andTaste magazines, and the author of at least four best-selling cookbooks.[1]
Previously he was host ofSaturday Mornings onABC Radio Melbourne, judge onNetwork Ten'sMasterChef Australia between 2009 and 2019,Seven Network'sMy Kitchen Rules in 2022.[2][3]
Preston is the son of British naval historian and journalistAntony Preston. He was born inLondon, UK, to a Roman Catholic family and from the age of 11 was educated atWorth School, aBenedictinemonastic boarding school inWest Sussex. He graduated from theUniversity of Kent with aBA Hons in Politics and Government. While growing up in London in the late 1970s, he became a DJ andpunk rock musician.[4]
After a few stints working at City Limits and IPC Magazines (TVTimes andWhat's on TV),[5] Preston relocated to Australia in October 1993. Initially he worked for IPC Magazines as their Australian TV correspondent writing about the soap operasNeighbours andHome and Away forTVTimes,What's on TV andWoman's Own. He subsequently wrote for a number of Australian trade publications owned by IPC's parent company, Reed Business Publishing includingEncore,Supermarket News andCounterpoint.
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In 1996, Preston started writing reviews for a new Melbourne magazine,Inside Melbourne, a role that he held until he moved on to write reviews forThe Age in February 2000. Preston also worked as a regular food correspondent in a number of publications, includingTaste, a supplement in theHerald Sun,The Courier-Mail andThe Daily Telegraph (Australia) newspapers andMasterChef Magazine,delicious. (Senior Editor),Australian Good Taste as the drink reviewer,The Guardian newspaper (UK) andTime Out (London). Preston was a weekly contributor toEpicure between 2000 and 2009, writing a weekly review of a cafe or restaurant. He also wrote a weekly column inThe Age's A2 and was a senior editor at Vogue Entertaining & Travel. Preston has made many appearances on Australian radio.
Today Preston is best known for his stint as a co-host and judge onMasterChef Australia. He also works as a food columnist and regular food correspondent and his weekly national food column appears in NewsCorp's metro newspapers and has a combined reach of over 2.9 million Australians each week. It runs inStellar magazine every Sunday and inThe Adelaide Advertiser. He is also a senior editor forDelicious andTaste magazines.
In 2009, Preston joinedGary Mehigan andGeorge Calombaris on the judging panel ofMasterChef Australia (Network 10), a reality television competition to find Australia's best amateur chef.MasterChef Australiaseries two,series three andseries eleven would go on to win the TV WeekLogie for Australia's Best Reality Series.
Preston judged the first eleven series ofMasterChef Australia (2009–2019), as well as the first season ofCelebrity MasterChef Australia (2009), the first series ofJunior MasterChef Australia (2010) andMasterChef Australia All-Stars (2012) with Mehigan and Calombaris. In 2013 he went at it alone to hostMasterChef Australia: The Professionals [6] withMarco Pierre White. The show premiered on 20 January 2013 and subsequently won the prestigious AACTA for Best Reality Show in the 2014 awards.[7]
Following comments made by Preston about fellowMasterChef Australia judge Marco Pierre White's son, Marco Pierre White Jr, spending $500,000 of his father's money on drugs and prostitution,[8] White stopped making guest appearances on the show after the8th season and joined the rival programmeHell's Kitchen Australia in retaliation.[9] In 2016, whilst onThe Kyle and Jackie O Show, Preston was asked about Marco Pierre White Jr's time onBig Brother UK, which included his alleged on-air sex and the above admission of purchasing illicit drugs and sex work. Preston said: "I think it is that terrible thing when you have kids that go off the rails... the drugs might be a little bit of a worry". White later said of Preston, "I will never forgive that man [Preston]... with my hand on my mother's grave I will get that man."[10] White eventually returned to the programme inseason 14, after Preston had left the show.[11]
In 2019, it was announced Preston, Mehigan and Calombaris would all be leaving the show after eleven years of judging, when Network 10 failed to meet pay rise demands set by the trio.[12][13][14] Making theeleventh season the last to feature Preston as a judge.[15] It was later announced that chef and former MasterChef winnerAndy Allen, food writer and criticMelissa Leong and chef and restaurateurJock Zonfrillo would join the series as judges and hosts for thetwelfth season in 2020 as replacements for Preston, Calombaris and Mehigan.[16][17]
Preston has also made numerous other appearances on TV shows including multiple appearances onThe Project,Good News Week,Studio 10,The Living Room,The Circle,Rove Live,This Week Live,All Star Family Feud andChris & Julia's Sunday Night Takeaway (allNetwork 10),ADbc andThe Blue List (SBS),Compass (ABC),Today andPostcards (bothNine Network) and Coxy's Big Break (Seven Network). He was also chosen as the secret reviewer in the first season of Channel Seven'sMy Restaurant Rules.[18] Preston has also taken small acting roles onOffspring (Network 10),[19] Lowdown (ABC),[20]The Bold And The Beautiful (Network 10)[21] andNeighbours (Network 10).[22] Previously, he has appeared on an episode ofLonely Planet Six Degrees.[23]
On 23 October 2019, it was announced that Preston and fellowMasterChef Australia judgeGary Mehigan would joinManu Feildel in 2020 with a new show calledPlate of Origin on Seven Network after the two jumped ship from Network 10.[24] In 2022, it was announced that Preston would be joining thetwelfth season of Seven Network'sMy Kitchen Rules as a judge and co-host alongside returning judge Manu Feildel. Preston and international food iconNigella Lawson were brought in to replace previous judge Pete Evans, who was sacked from the show because of controversial comments he made.[25][26]
In August 2022, Preston was revealed to be the Gnome on thefourth season ofNetwork 10'sThe Masked Singer Australia. He was one of two wildcard contestants, and was introduced in round three, however was eliminated the same round after only one performance.[27][28] In May 2023, he was announced as one of the celebrity contestants competing on thetwentieth season ofDancing with the Stars Australia, and was partnered with Jessica Raffa.[29][30] However, on 2 July 2023, on the third episode, he withdrew from the series after sustaining an ankle injury during dancing rehearsals, making him the first contestant to leave the competition.[31][32][33]
Matt has been contributing to Australia's leading glossy food magazines, writing about restaurants, chefs and leading culinary destinations. The role has taken him to more than 30 regions across Australia and the world.
Matt began regularly contributing to the Epicure food section ofThe Age in February 2000. He wrote a weekly review of a cafe or ethnic eatery in his 'Unexplored' column in Epicure and in 2009 he wrote a weekly column inThe Age on Saturday's A2 section. Preston also contributes cover stories to Epicure, for which he has won a number of awards.
Preston has won a number of awards, both individually and as the leader of an organisation, including:
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