
Speaking to A Current Affair on Monday night, the victim of George Calombaris’s Sunday night outburst at a soccer final, described the celebrity chef’s behaviour on Sunday night as “unnecessary and erratic; that’s how I would describe it,” he said anonymously.
The Masterchef judge was captured pushing a soccer fan at Sunday night’s A-League grand final after he told the chef to “pay your staff”.
“I couldn’t believe I got punched by the bloke off Masterchef, really. Everyone else was yelling ‘pay your staff, pay your staff,’ and I think the crowd got on his nerves a bit,” the teen continued.
The altercation comes after Calombaris was last month forced to reveal his restaurant business had underpaid staff by a total of $2.6 million.
Watch the moment the celebrity chef pushes a soccer fan. Post continues…
Calombaris, a Melbourne Victory fan, witnessed his team go down 4-2 alongside fellow Masterchef judge Matt Preston and chef Shannon Bennett.
In the footage obtained by SBS’s The World Game, Calombaris can be seen standing and chatting to officials and friends on the ground after the match ends.
One man can be heard yelling, “George” and “Pay your staff, you dodgy bastard” among a sea of others yelling at the celebrity chef.
Baited by the taunts, Calombaris then yells at the crowd before he walks to a man in the front row and – to the man’s shock – shoves him.
Listen: Why Masterchef did what MKR couldn’t.
“I remember him, just like, looking at me and then sucker punch straight in the guts, really. He was certainly trying to provoke the situation, that’s for sure,” the teenager told A Current Affair.