MasterChef judge Gary Mehigan in hot water over endorsement deal
MasterChef judge Gary Mehigan is in hot water after he failed to answer questions about South Australian food as the face of tourism for the state.
The Melbourne-based chef has been tourism ambassador for the South Australian government for the past 12 months, but the opposition has criticised the government’s choice, saying Mehigan’s promotional values and lack of knowledge on the state aren’t good enough.
“My question is Gary, where the bloody hell are you?” shadow tourism minister Zoe Bettison said.
In a recent radio interview, Mehigan was left red faced when he couldn’t answer questions about certain South Australian foods.
“Labor should spend less time cooking up personal attacks on a much-loved Australian chef and more time on helping to promote our wonderful state,” SA Tourism manager David Ridgeway said in a statement.
The SA government confirmed there are no plans to dump Mehigan as the face of SA Tourism.
There are several events both in South Australia and internationally scheduled in the coming months.