He made headlines last year when he was charged with assault after he allegedly shoved a young man at the A-League grand final in Sydney. And now, Masterchef Australia judge George Calombaris is caught up in a bitter conflict with his 71-year-old neighbour.
Speaking with newspaper the Herald Sun, Calombaris’ neighbour Helen Elsworth claims the celebrity chef has robbed her of her privacy by building a self-contained gym in the backyard of his Toorak mansion.
Helen Elsworth, who has lived in her Melbourne home for over 33 years told the newspaper: “He’s the worst neighbour I’ve had in my life.”
“He should be living in Central Australia somewhere, where he can’t bother people, not in the suburbs.”
Helen believes the “hideous black box” which houses a gym in Calombaris’ backyard should be torn down as she believes it breaches regulations.
She also claims she was not informed by Calombaris of his plans to build the gym, which she describes as an “eyesore”.
Listen: Does Masterchef need some more female perspectives? The Mamamia Out Loud team discuss. Post continues below.
George Calombaris and his wife Natalie Tricarico purchased the Melbourne mansion back in 2014 for $4.75 million.
Speaking to the Herald Sun, Natalie clarified that the new addition their home was legal and within building regulations.
“We have also continued to ensure our neighbours who share a land boundary with us were kept informed of the progress of the construction works – as we were required to do – and those neighbours have expressed no issue with the construction or the process that took place,” she said.
Natalie Tricarico has since invited Helen to paint the new fence if she is unhappy with its colour.
Despite this, Helen has lodged a complaint with the Victorian Building Authority.
Restaurateur Calombaris made headlines last year after it was revealed staff of his Melbourne restaurants were underpaid almost $2.6 million.
He will return as host on the 10th season of MasterChef Australia from next week.
The Best Halloween Movies Of All Time (From Horror To Disney)
The Spill
Top Comments
Who'd have thought someone who underpaid his staff to the tune of millions of dollars for years and assaults teenagers at the soccer could be inconsiderate?
Inconsiderate by building something in his own backyard?
If it involved a fence being torn down and rebuilt without approval and privacy shrubs being removed that it was agreed wouldn't be touched (all information about this that's available, all not included by MM for some reason...) then yeah, he's being inconsiderate (at best).