It’s likely that you’d recognise Melissa Leong’s face, she was the first female judge ever on Masterchef Australia; but today’s conversation goes into some very personal places that extend far beyond what you might see on prime time TV. She burst onto our screens in 2020 and made us fall in love with food and cooking. Her new memoir ‘Guts’ is a raw, funny and beautifully written look at her upbringing in a Singaporean - Chinese family, the behind the scenes of the food and entertainment world and some personal stories that she hadn’t shared publicly before. 

• Growing up with strict, authoritarian immigrant parents and ending up in a creative profession 
• Being no contact with her dad
• The path that led Melissa to not having kids
• Being single and getting so much connection from other areas of life
• “How to” divorce if you’re in the public eye and the advice she was given of when and how to announce it
• When the opportunity to host masterchef came knocking and Melissa didn’t jump at it
• Dissociating after SA and having memory loss from the time
• Realising that it is not her shame to bear
• Happiness being ‘far too fleeting a concept to hang your hat on’ and finding purpose in being content instead
• Being involved in the UFC - how, why and naked choke holds 
• What’s next for Melissa
  
  

You can get yourself a copy of “Guts” through this link 

You can follow Melissa on Instagram 

And check out her website 

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Hosted by Britt Hockley & Keeshia Pettit 

Produced by Keeshia Pettit

Video Produced by Vanessa Beckford

Recorded on Cammeraygal Land

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