Melissa Leong (born 1982) is an Australian television host, freelance food writer, radio broadcaster, critic, cookbook editor and marketer.

Life and career

Leong was born in 1982 in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. Her parents emigrated to Australia from Singapore. She co-hosted ''

The Chefs' Line ''The Chefs' Line'' is an Australian reality competitive cooking show. The series features four home cooks in each episode who compete against professional chefs in a studio kitchen. The challenge is to create their personal versions of a chosen ...

'' with chefs

Dan Hong Dan Hong (born 1982) is an Australian chef, restaurateur and television host. He is the executive chef at a number of restaurants under the Merivale company. Early life Hong's parents were born in Vietnam. His mother Angie came to Australia under ...

and

Mark Olive Mark Olive (born 1962), also known as the Black Olive, is an Aboriginal Australian chef. Olive was born in Wollongong in 1962 and is a Bundjalung man. Olive had a cooking segment on the ABC's ''Message Stick'' TV seriesMessage SticMark Olive & ...

for two seasons in 2017, and 2018. As of 2020, Leong is one of the new judges for '' MasterChef Australia'', alongside

Jock Zonfrillo Barry "Jock" Zonfrillo (4 August 1976 – 30 April 2023) was a Scottish chef, television presenter and restaurateur. He was the founder of the Orana Foundation and a judge on '' MasterChef Australia''. Early life Zonfrillo was born in Glasgo ...

and Andy Allen. In November 2020, Leong was named Who’s Sexiest Person of 2020 by ''Who'' magazine.

Personal life

Leong has had depression and anxiety throughout her life and has an autoimmune condition which has caused chronic insomnia and loss of hair. Leong married Joe Jones in 2017. In December 2020, she announced the two have separated.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leong, Melissa Living people MasterChef Australia 1982 births Australian people of Chinese descent People from Sydney