MasterChef star Melissa Leong’s childhood confession

MasterChef star Melissa Leong has revealed there is one item she had to have in her sandwich as a child, but she didn’t even know what it was.

She’s always eloquent and effortlessly elegant – even while tasting the seemingly endless delicious dishes served up in the MasterChef kitchen. From noodles to decadent desserts, Melissa Leong never, ever spills a drop or ruins her immaculate lipstick.

She tells The BINGE Guide there were no Rocky Balboa-style intensive practice sessions in front of a mirror to get it right. And she didn’t don sweat pants, there were definitely no coaches yelling, or lifting of forks to and from her mouth to perfect her technique.

“Although a montage of that would have been pretty funny,” Leong laughs.

“I think anyone who has to eat on camera learns pretty quickly to not take the bite they wish they could have.

“I worked with some very kind producers early on that said ‘you might like to have another go at that’.

Melissa Leong faced some challenges on the set of MasterChef. Picture: Supplied

“I think as with everything to do with learning how to be yourself on a new platform, you learn how to do it and do it well. As long as you get the food in your mouth and express the experience.”

Surprisingly, the 43-year-old confesses her poise on camera doesn’t always spill over into her real life.

“Food spillage is a reality when you love food and eat a lot of food – there will be casualties,” she says. “But, that’s what a really good washing machine and technologically driven fabrics are all about.”

Some kids dream of being ballerinas, or doctors, or teachers, Leong was not one of those. Developing a shoulder injury from playing piano as a teen took away the goal of concert pianist – the only thing she wanted to do at the time.

“Honestly I was never one of those kids that had a particular idea of what I wanted to do,” Leong shares. “I knew I wanted to travel the world and be really good at whatever it is I ended up doing and, of course, love what I did.

“They were the only clear directives of what I wanted to get out of being a grown-up. And I knew I didn’t want to be chained to a desk for 40 years – I certainly wanted the freedom and opportunity to really live a life.

“I am really, really lucky to have been afforded that perspective, because my parents sacrificed a lot for me to have been enabled to dream like that.”

Melissa Leong takes a bite in the MasterChef kitchen.

Stepping into the MasterChef judging trio alongside Jock Zonfrillo and Andy Allen, Leong’s certainly found that sense of purpose and satisfaction she’d imagined as a child.

“I’ve started to feel like the shoes finally fit now which is really nice.”

Speaking of shoes fitting, Leong’s innate style drew her a new legion of fans last year. She’s always loved fashion – at a much deeper level than just looking fabulous.

“I love the idea of fashion as way of expressing yourself – it’s a way of being able to say something about yourself without having to even open your mouth,” she says.

“I think that people who think fashion is frivolous aren’t really thinking about its function – it’s a lot more meaningful than that.”

Zonfrillo, Allen and Leong entered the kitchen last season with a bang, making their mark on challenges and tastings alike. Ready to encourage and push contestants to extend their repertoire and cook delicious food, the trio is thrilled to be back to nurture and mentor the next batch of hopefuls in this Season 13.

“It’s like the beginning of the new school year, everything is familiar – the kitchen is like home in so many ways,” Leong says. “We know that studio inside and out, we’ve had so many meals and laughs in that kitchen. There is a tremendous amount of good juju in that space.

‘It’s like the beginning of the new school year.’ Picture: Josie Hayden

“And it’s always awesome to get the band back together – I think it’s pretty clear we have a fair amount of fun hanging out. So why wouldn’t you want turn up every day and have fun with your mates? The crew are an extension of that. We are a big family together.”

As the team returns to its traditional format after the overwhelming success of last year’s Back to Win, Leong can’t wait for viewers to meet the amazing new cooks who promos are already boldly proclaiming the best ever.

She’s reflective when we ask what she enjoys most about her role on the Channel 10 ratings juggernaut, pausing, before revealing it’s “hands down” sharing stories.

“The greatest honour is to be a conduit for other people’s stories,” Leong muses. “Being a food writer for so many years before embarking on this journey, my job was to listen and provide a platform for other people’s voices.

“I think the real value is understanding how the power of MasterChef is community and a connectiveness with a shared love of food.”

Her own deep love of food stems from her multicultural background – in fact it’s a love language for the first-generation Singaporean-Australian. Leong loved being that person to open the door to a new experience – taking Aussie school friends to Sunday yum cha with her family, delighted to watch them discover something new and be “weirded out” by funny textures.

Conversely though, she was at times “uncomfortable” by what her lunch box contained.

“I do look at that as a gift,” Leong admits. “I bonded with all different people from different cultural backgrounds over the – quote, unquote – weird lunches we used to bring.

“But we were lucky, to be able to bring amazing things to school and to have families who had the time and care to give us good food.

“I mean at the time you do just want to fit in. I didn’t even know what devon was at the time but I really wanted devon and tomato sandwiches because that’s what all the kids were having. “I asked my mum to make me sandwiches – my mum doesn’t know how to do anything by half, she’s very much if you are going to do it, do it very well. So if she was making an Australian sandwich it would be an A+ sandwich with fancy seeded bread and double smoked ham and seeded mustard.

“That do it well has also pervaded my work ethos and in the way I approach many things.”

She’s certainly adopted her mum’s do-it-well belief and doesn’t shy away from hard topics, laughing as we ask if she’d like to have an alter ego, perhaps say chef Michelle Leong as she was once mistakenly called once.

“It’s just me 100 per cent of the time,” Leong says. “Maybe I should have an alter ego to blame some of my more forthright opinions on. But I’ve worked really hard to just be me and I don’t have time to be another version of that. What you see is what you get.”

MasterChef, returns on Ten soon

Originally published as MasterChef star Melissa Leong’s childhood confession