Melissa Leong: ‘Life is not easy. Life is ugly and hard and unpredictable’ | Australian lifestyle

AT Home to Carlton North of Melbourne, Melissa Leong feels worried. She is preparing to spend the day talking about her new Memoirs, Guts, which reveal personal difficulties of which she has never spoken publicly.

“This part – asking herself naked, so to speak, several times a day – is difficult,” she says. “It is mentally difficult. It’s emotionally difficult. “

The former Masterchef judge and Masters dessert host describes himself as an introvert, a private person who likes to withdraw and recover after a day on the set. In his memories, Leong found a way to balance this need for intimacy to be vulnerable. She shares her battles with depression and anxiety, episodes of loneliness while turning Masterchef and her experiences of bulimia, self -control and sexual violence.

A thread is Leong’s propensity to “explode” his life. She writes on leaving a sure job to live on a Mouton dairy in Tasmania and her divorce. “I have become a bit of an expert on this subject,” she wrote, although she is wary of encouraging others to do the same.

“If you are going to press the large red button, you need to prepare for spinoffs, because it is intrinsically a selfish thing,” explains Leong. “And when I say selfish, I don’t want to say selfish in the wrong direction.

“There are certain things that we have achieved, as women, that we can do and have for ourselves and our friends who do not imply subscription to societal standards.”

Leong says that she moved away to write about what seemed faithful to her, including his childhood in the sub -dominance white of Cronulla, Sydney, in the 80s; How chronic pain stopped a promising musical career (she started playing the piano at the age of three); his work as a make -up artist; Leave your first business job and enter them – surprisingly hostile at the time – World of Food Writing.

“There is a little sweetness in the management of your own race, emerging triumphant, and realizing that all those who did not believe that you could do it is right there,” says Leong. “I met a lot of people who tried to make me go back and it’s ok because the resistance gives you something tangible against.”

The 43 -year -old man called his guest book because she wanted the title to expresses visceral discomfort. “Life is not easy. Life is ugly and hard and unpredictable, and often less than Ideal, and I liked that in a syllable, you have this word that is loaded. ”

She is supported by other members of the industry who have written memories, including Kumi Taguchi, whom she met during her stay with SBS as a judge on the chief’s line, whom she calls “Masterchef with training wheels”. She feels that she is in good company alongside women telling complex stories. “Having people like Kumi on my side and in my corner helped me galvanize myself.”

Leong writes that she came to accept that she was raped about 15 years ago. She does not name the attacker but she hopes that sharing her story could help others.

“The particular configuration of the experiences I have had is mine, but these are things that have happened to our friends, sisters, mothers, cousins.

“I share these things because I know they are not unique for me, and therefore if I can articulate them in a way that maybe someone else cannot yet articulate for themselves, if it means that they feel less alone, then it is a success for me.”

Now Leong is shameless to prioritize, “because for the majority of my life, I was a pleasure”.

“I wanted to return the others around me happy to the detriment of my health, my wealth and myself, really.”

It is kidding not to know if it is age or perimenopause, but “if one of the side effects is that I give less fuck, then I don’t care”.

Leong suffered criticism from the moment it was announced as the first Masterchef judge in 2020. The day after the death of his Cohost Jock Zonfrillo in 2023, she was criticized for choosing to cry in private. In Guts, Leong describes Masterchef as “a set of golden handcuffs” – both a formidable opportunity and also limiting.

“I’m really proud of the time I put; I learned a lot, I grew up a lot, but I also wanted to continue moving, so that the expectations that people had for me were not able to atrophy around me. ”

After welcoming two seasons of masters dessert, Leong made an unexpected pivot to organize the UFC combat week. “It was as far in the opposite direction as I could imagine,” she says.

She is a big fan of mixed martial arts and is about 18 months of Jiujitsu training, working towards a third band on her white belt. “It is the right combination of human instinct and critical thinking. In addition, it is an excellent training. If you are stressed, becoming really sweat and exhausted a few times a week is quite good, for me anyway.”

Leong also completed the filming of a new show in New Zealand entitled Taste of Art, with the executive chief of AmiField, Vaughan Mabee. Although the show is “back in the world of food – and studios and dresses and gastronomies”, she hopes that viewers will see an evolution in her career.

It is also on screens now as competitors in The Amazing Race Australia: Celebrity Edition, exchanging creative dresses and heels for t-shirts and coaches. It was “very liberating” to give up control and be according to the reality TV game plan, she says. “Being able to trust was a wonderful exercise for me. I am a big subscriber: just connect to every experience that life offers you.