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Wanker, or just a bloke with high standards?

Lucy Kippist

by Lucy Kippist

17 May 09:47am

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Filed under: Lightweight, Masterchef, Matt Preston

40 comments

Sure, he might have a quirky sense of personal style, last seen on Keith Floyd, circa 1970.  And you’d be hard pressed to find anyone fussier in the kitchen, but would you really call Matt Preston a wanker?

More painful than Eyjafjallajokull and Brian McFadden put together .

Ralph magazine certainly seems to think so. They’ve put Preston at the top of their annual list of 100 wankers - beating Kevin Rudd, Tony Abbott, Brian McFadden and even Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano.

“The guy needs to chill out and eat some cheese on toast once in a while,” Raph editor Pintado Santi told News.com.au.

“He’s pompous. And he’s everywhere, is there anything he’s not selling at the moment, he’s got CDs, cookbook.” 

But to be fair, the guy’s also done a lot for the way Australians look at food. Not since Gabriel Gate has a bloke been more willing to go on national television and stick up for high standards in the kitchen.

He may like colourful scarves, but he’s making a convincing case for why it’s important to put some effort into what we eat and how we cook it. What’s so bad about that?

Most commented

40 comments

Show oldest | newest first

    • Seriously says:

      11:20am | 17/05/10

      Ralph is just looking for some free PR. And hey presto! Just about every online news site has obligingly picked up on this story today. Watch the morning TV shows pick up on it tomorrow. Magazine circulations, including that of Ralph, have been in steady decline for years. What better way to put your brand back in the spotlight than by calling the host of the most popular show on TV a wanker? I tip my hat to Ralph’s editor. Well played, sir.

      Reply

    • steve says:

      11:46am | 17/05/10

      True point, this is wrong.

      Tony Abbott shoud be 1st on the list.
      Followed very closely by Stephen Conroy in 2nd!
      With Brian McFadden in 3rd!  wink

      Reply

    • Ron Jeremy says:

      03:30pm | 17/05/10

      @steve from the ALP

      Really now, I mean I can understand your bias but anyone who blows $19.7B saved over 11 years of “good economic’ management in less than 3 years should be your ‘wanker’ and receive ‘The Linda Lovealce ’ award.

    • Marcus says:

      04:08pm | 19/05/10

      you ever heard of the GFC pornstar?

    • peter says:

      11:50am | 17/05/10

      The cravat says it all..

      Reply

    • Fashion says:

      09:21pm | 18/05/10

      Yes Peter, its not a scave, its a cravat. No harder to use the right name.

    • Bon says:

      11:58am | 17/05/10

      The blokes behind Ralph are the real wankers

      Reply

    • Leigh says:

      12:20pm | 17/05/10

      Matt Preston is a chef judge on a cooking competition show. He is SUPPOSED to have high standards. Why wasn’t Tony Abbott no. 1? hehe. Well I don’t know about everyone else but if I was eating at a restaurant I’d want my food to be nicely prepared too.

      Reply

    • shabangabang says:

      12:34pm | 17/05/10

      Matt Preston is certainly a wanker but not wanker of the year. I think James Cameron deserves that title. He made a movie about blue people now everybody wants to do everything in 3D.

      Reply

    • Kelly says:

      12:36pm | 17/05/10

      Funny thing is, I think Matt Preston would quite happily eat cheese on toast.

      Kyle Sandilands should be number one.

      Reply

    • Marcus says:

      04:11pm | 19/05/10

      I was going to make this point too. I’m pretty sure I read an article of his in the age about cheese on toast…

    • BK says:

      01:03pm | 17/05/10

      Anyone who thinks that a good chef can be a celebrity is a wanker. What next- celebrity plumbers?

      Reply

    • Bitten says:

      09:42pm | 17/05/10

      Yes! Yes! Celebrity plumbers! Kenny can decide who’s the weakest s-bend!

    • Grid says:

      09:26pm | 18/05/10

      Matt Preston is not a chef, hes a critique, a restaurant judge. And yes we have celebrity carpenters (all trades bloke), plumber Kenny, accountant? Kochie, people who havent done anything other than be born, Paris Hilton, someone who can take their clothes off, Jamie Dury, it does go on. I find no value in any of them so why do the media make them celebrities?

    • Elizabeth says:

      01:19pm | 17/05/10

      I thought he was a bit swanky with a silent s and then I read his book. He takes the piss out of himself way better than we could and he is genuinely funny. I admire what he is doing for family food etc.

      Reply

    • 6c legs says:

      01:47pm | 17/05/10

      to have high standards, is to be a wanker?
      well, we should all aspire to such lofty ideals, and hope we become a nation of wankers!

      Newsflash!!!!: one can have high standards, and still have a sense of humour!
      The only high standards Ralph magazine have are, misogny and bullying/making fun of anyone that doesn’t fit into ‘ralphs average pidgeon hole’.

      me, i have high standards about [not]  doing un-necessary housework. . .

      Reply

    • Andrew says:

      01:58pm | 17/05/10

      No wanker is about right but so too are his Masterclass amigo’s!  Liberace carried off the cravat in the 70’s.  Preston just looks like a bloated, pompus clown!

      Reply

    • marty says:

      02:10pm | 17/05/10

      I like the fellow. He’s a colourful & interesting guy amongst a roster of ‘personalities’ in sea of blandness (eddie mcguire, david koch, various soap actors…)

      Like Elizabeth said, he does take the piss out of himself and it should be Ralph up there…

      Reply

    • Eleanor says:

      02:26pm | 17/05/10

      I’m just disappointed Brian McFadden wasn’t number one. I was surprised that I found Sandilands more endearing than him on AGT.

      Reply

    • Coxy says:

      02:41pm | 17/05/10

      Agreed. McFadden should be first by the length of the straight followed by (in order) Kevin Rudd, David Koch, Andrew O’Keefe, Steve Jacobs, Ray Martin, Jon Faine, Gerard Whately, Laurie Oakes and that Jonathon bloke off masterchef. Luckily I haven’t seen or heard of Rove for a while so he misses the top ten….just.

    • Saskia says:

      02:29pm | 17/05/10

      Ralph are the wankers.  Preston is an individual with his cravats etc (NOT scarves!).

      Wankers are: pointy hair cuts, product, sloganed T-shirts, trainers as fashion shoes and tattoos.

      eg. half the blokes in Australia.  Oh and Kevin Rudd.  Both a wanker and uber-nerd.

      Reply

    • JK says:

      03:45pm | 17/05/10

      Hi Saskia;  I agree, there are alot more tossers around that ARE genuine wankers (validated by recent experience).  I wouldnt mind having a chin wag with Matt, and as seen at the Logies, he gets a little silly on red wine, just like I do!

      One query tho what is a/an uber-nerd?

    • Miss Anthropist says:

      04:17pm | 21/05/10

      Add to that: guys who wear white thongs, turn up the collars of their polo shirts, or walk around with their sunglasses on their heads.

    • Brad Coward says:

      02:58pm | 17/05/10

      Oh, he’d be certain to get a spot on the Australian Team if a Wankers Olympic Games was to be held.  Kevin Rudd and Kyle Sandilands would share flag-bearing duties with Julia Gillard and Anna Bligh.

      Reply

    • Miss Anthropist says:

      04:18pm | 21/05/10

      Anna Blight.  I think it’s a silent T.

    • Lara says:

      03:07pm | 17/05/10

      Matt Preston was always kind and polite about Kate’s more homestyle cooking efforts. He was the only judge who didn’t mock her for her potato-chicken-mayonaise microwave dish, and he described her cooked tuna and fried rice “Japanese” dish as good for a Thursday night meal at home. Hardly wanker behaviour.

      He’s a food critic and judge of a cooking show, he obviously knows food and has to have high standards, but he isn’t arrogant about it and has demonstrated that he knows there’s a time and place for different kinds of meals. I’m sure he enjoys cheese on toast.

      Reply

    • Bon says:

      03:56pm | 17/05/10

      I agree - I liked how he didn’t turn his nose up at Kate’s food, and he is always respectful of the contestants and matches any negative comments with some positive ones.

      I really love the way he speaks and describes food. With anybody else it would sound pompous and wanky, but Matt Preston can get away with it because it’s not a put on, it’s just how he is.

      I have noticed that men are more likely to think he is a wanker than women - my husband and son don’t like him at all.

    • wolf says:

      02:45pm | 18/05/10

      He’s done some interesting restuarant reviews in The Age - my favorite being the one for a no frills restuarant in chinatown:
      http://www.theage.com.au/news/restaurant-reviews/kum-den/2008/03/17/1205602271224.html

      The last two paragraphs especially show that he doesn’t take himself too seriously and more than willing to overlook certain deficiencies in decor for the sake of the food. This is not the work of an arrogant man.

    • Paul says:

      03:51pm | 17/05/10

      Of course, in modern Australia (Rapidly becoming the next American State), ANY standards at all will get you referred to as a W#%nker!

      Reply

    • Zeta says:

      03:54pm | 17/05/10

      Wait, people still read Ralph?

      2002 called, they want their magazine back.

      “Hey Ralph, it’s 2002 here, while you’re there, can you bring back the entire magazine industry? It’s dead in 2010.”

      “Oh hi 2002, it’s Ralph. Sorry, a Lion Nathan PR rep just dropped a carton round, we’re going to embarass ourselves in front of cash desperate ‘models’ who’ll never have sex with us. Try calling back later.”

      “Sorry Ralph, looks like we’re playing phone tag. This is 1996, we were wondering if we could also have the word ‘PHWOAR’ back. Don’t worry about returning the call, just let 2002 know you’re going to send it back to The Sun. The UK tabloid. Or just blast it into the actual Sun we’ll never use it again once you’re done with it.”

      “2002? 1996? Yeah it’s Ralph. We keep missing each other. Listen, apparently the word ‘Phwoar’ is used on all our mind maps for future editions, where it comprises the only readable word on the butcher’s paper, so we’re going to need it. Editorial said I can give Big Brother’s Krystal back to 2005 though. Is this cool?”

      “Ralph, it’s us again. We know things are tight in publishing, but couldn’t you guys spring for a Blackberry? Listen, forget about returning the call, just take Krystal and your entire staff to 2001. World Trade Centre. Somewhere around September. Just wait, we’ll meet you there… *muffled laughter in the background* Cheers.”

      Reply

    • stephen says:

      08:07pm | 17/05/10

      Nice one Zeta. And so true !

    • iansand says:

      04:37pm | 17/05/10

      Ralph is just pissed off that Preston would not write a “How to tie a cravat” column for their Style section.  They do have a Style section, don’t they?

      Reply

    • macca-d says:

      05:37pm | 17/05/10

      Preston’s a funny guy, and often sends himself up (when not judging).  He’d be cool to have a beer with, and if you went out for a meal with him you’d never have to pay. 

      He’s AOK in my books. 

      Kyle Sandilands on the other hand is a huge wanker ...he doesn’t even need to say anything….you can tell that by from his haircut and his designer facial hair.

      Reply

    • Seano says:

      07:12pm | 17/05/10

      Why can’t he be both?

      Reply

    • Life on Mars says:

      03:44pm | 18/05/10

      Wanker or high standards?  Wanker.

      Reply

    • EB says:

      04:58pm | 18/05/10

      Of course he’s a wanker, it’s part of the job description. But keep in mind that people with high food standards are trying to save you from eating literally bucketloads of canola oil and preservatives every year.

      Reply

    • The Hypocritic Oaf says:

      09:46am | 19/05/10

      The words of the immortal Ronald Hitler Barassi from TISM say it best, when clearly outlining some of the things/people that are ‘BFW’ (i.e. Big F’n Whoopee) in the same-named ditty:

      “Chefs, especially celebrity chefs, but all chefs really. Good ones, I mean, the ones with the snooty attitude who think, what this world really needs is another braised quot quot in a rococo of cuscus. And people who like all that sh*t like John Hindle and Claude Forrell and all those food critics.

      By Christ, when your life’s specialty is forcing another morsel of over-glazed lamb shank down your oily, globular, over-opinionated gullet, when, of all the things in the world men are called to do. Of all the vocations of love and adventure. Of all the trials of the emotions and amongst all the voyages of spirit mankind can embark upon, when, given this whole universe of possible callings, the one you choose is to sit on your crapulent crack and lazily whine about someone else’s cooking, that’s when you know you are at the very acme of the BFW sh*t heap”.

      Reply

    • Dan says:

      02:37am | 20/05/10

      Well thats a bit nasty… It’s not like he is a parking inspector

    • Stewart says:

      10:28am | 26/05/10

      Miss Anthropist, you are now a wanker.

      Reply

    • Las says:

      06:58pm | 01/06/10

      You’re not watching JUST a learn to cook show, you’re watching entertainment. Get over yourselves. Yes it was a bit heavy, but to judge a cook on just one dish???? To judge a human on one insignificant act?? Wouldn’t those who throw stones be the pompous ones

      Reply
 
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