In a surprising revelation, controversial celebrity chef George Calombaris has admitted to smuggling what he described as 'white powder' onto the set of the popular survival show I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! The 47-year-old former MasterChef star shared the details in a black and white video posted to his Instagram account, where he openly mocked the programme's stringent food regulations.
A Culinary Contraband Operation
Calombaris explained that his inability to live without proper seasoning for his meals drove him to sneak in salt and vinegar food flavouring. The video clip shows him carefully shovelling the mixture into a tiny plastic sachet, with the chef declaring, 'This is the contraband that I took into the jungle. Flavour, flavour, flavour.' This wasn't his first admission of flouting the show's rules, having previously discussed his deceptive tactics during an appearance on The Kyle and Jackie O Show last month.
An Extensive Smuggling Arsenal
The hospitality entrepreneur didn't stop at simple seasoning. He revealed taking an entire arsenal of flavour enhancers into the South African jungle, including Japanese dashi and sake powder, wasabi, stock cubes, and instant miso. Calombaris, who entered the show as an intruder, confessed his culinary deception to fellow contestants shortly after arriving in camp. He even admitted to watching the crime drama Breaking Bad for inspiration on smuggling techniques, demonstrating the lengths he was willing to go for taste.
Career Collapse and Personal Struggles
During his time on the survival series, Calombaris opened up about the devastating collapse of his career following a major wage underpayment scandal. He described how his phone suddenly 'stopped ringing' after his restaurant group, MAdE Establishment, was ordered to repay $7.8 million to more than 500 underpaid staff in 2019, along with a $200,000 fine. 'It was the weirdest feeling, you've suddenly gone from your phone buzzing all day long, emails, MasterChef, restaurants, blah, blah, blah - to nothing,' he told his campmates.
Turning to Alcohol and Finding Redemption
The chef revealed he turned to binge drinking to cope with his professional downfall, hitting such a low point that his best man found him in a bush and 'slapped it out of me.' Calombaris told the group he takes full responsibility for what happened, though he found the label of 'thief' particularly difficult to stomach, describing it as deeply contradictory to the values his parents instilled in him. The scandal ended his long-running role on MasterChef and transformed him into one of Australia's most divisive food industry figures.
Public Reaction and Future Prospects
Fans appeared to applaud the chef's audacious smuggling, with many expressing enthusiasm for his cunning on social media. Fellow cast member Matt Zukowski commented, 'So good while it lasted, brother.' While Calombaris maintains his life is now 'in a really good place,' he sees the jungle experience as offering something he hasn't had in years – a platform to directly address his narrative away from courtrooms and restaurant closures. 'In a way, if you want to call it redemption, yeah a little bit of that,' he told The Daily Telegraph, suggesting this television appearance represents a potential turning point in his public rehabilitation.
