"I am really disappointed with what occurred last night."

Melbourne chef and MasterChef judge George Calombaris isn’t having a great run. Last month it emerged that Calombaris had underpaid more than 160 staff a total of $2.6 million. And last night the chef’s football team, Melbourne Victory, lost the A-League grand final to Sydney FC in a penalty shoot-out.

What do these two things have in common, other than the fact they reflect poor choices made by Calombaris? Well last night, after the match had concluded, Calombaris was standing on the field with his mates and fellow MasterChef judges Matt Preston and Shannon Bennett when a fan started heckling.

“Pay your staff, you dodgy bastard!” a man yelled at Calombaris.

The celeb chef didn’t take the heckling too well and approached another fan in the crowd and shoved him in the chest. The crowd responded by booing Calombaris until police intervened and pulled him away from the stands.

The police spoke to him for while before Preston rocked up and led Calombaris away.

In a statement released this morning Calombaris apologised for his actions and said “I am really disappointed with what occurred last night.” He also claimed his anger was in response to other (inaudible) personal comments.

“I was genuinely shocked when post-match football banter turned into personal abuse about my family,” he said. “I regret the way in which I reacted, I am disappointed that I let it get to me, and I sincerely apologise for offending anyone. While I am not proud of my reaction to the situation, I was offended by a spectator yelling out abusive and derogatory comments about my family.”

Though Calombaris has argued that the underpayment of his staff was an administrative mistake, former staff have accused the company of ignoring penalty rates. Back in 2012, Calombaris reportedly said “It’s just not a good business practice to be paying penalty rates.”