But what many people may not know is that Melbourne-based Melissa Leong has a soft spot for Tasmania and credits the state with helping her overcome some of her biggest life challenges.

“I lived in Tasmania for just over two years about nine years ago,’' Leong explains.

“And it started off as a bit of a sabbatical, I think it was meant to go for about 12 weeks, I think that was all I had budgeted for.

“I was in a bit of a career cul-de-sac … so I had taken a bit of a break, re-examining what I wanted to do and how I wanted to do it.’’

She’d also faced some mental health struggles – the now 40-year-old talks openly about her journey with anxiety and depression, having suffered a breakdown in her 20s before starting therapy.

And Leong says Tasmania proved to be the perfect antidote for both her mental health and career challenges.

“I had some pretty big epiphanies in the first month I was (in Tasmania),’’ Leong confesses.

So she flew back to Sydney – where she was then living – broke up with her boyfriend, packed up her car and took her dog to Tasmania.

She spent some time living at Cradoc Hill abattoir, in the Huon Valley, and at Grandvewe sheep dairy at Birchs Bay, immersing herself in farm life in these “incredible food bowls” of Tasmania while also ghost writing cookbooks for celebrity chefs.

“I got to learn about cheese making and had a hand in being able to do a little bit of everything on the farm,’’ Leong says.

“From milking sheep, sweeping up shearing dregs and stirring curds … it was a real education in agriculture.’’

She also got to explore many other parts of Tasmania while she was here.

“I lived in the Huon and at Birchs Bay … but I also got to spend time out near St Helens as well, I did a lot of road trips in and around the place,’’ Leong says.

One of her favourite Tasmanian food experiences involved trips to Geeveston to buy sushi from famed chef Masaaki Koyama, which she describes as a “real treat”.

“It was a pretty wonderful opportunity to just get in the car and explore,’’ Leong says of living in Tasmania.

“It was a really formative time in my life when it comes to exploring food and primary production and the nature of our food journey.’’

Tasmania was also a place that helped her work through some emotional struggles and decide which direction her career should take.

Leong was born in Australia, to Chinese parents who migrated from Singapore, and initially embarked on an accounting and economics degree, as a tertiary education was “a non-negotiable” in her family.

While studying, she also worked in cosmetics, as a make-up artist for brands including Clinique, Lancome and MAC.

She had friends graduating from film school and found herself doing make-up for music videos.

“I was pulled into that world for a little bit as at 21 or 22 years old that is a slightly more attractive proposition than an internship at an accounting firm,’’ she laughs.

Leong followed that thread of creativity and ended up working in advertising but didn't love it. She later moved into marketing, public relations and freelance writing, where she fortunately found her way into the food world, and hasn’t looked back.

While living in Tasmania, Leong wrote cookbooks and tested recipes for chef Dan Hong’s book Mr Hong and for chef Colin Fassnidge. She also worked on The Great Australian Cookbook, a job that eventually lured her away from Tasmania and back to Sydney.

“That time in Tasmania was more about career than anything else,’’ Leong explains. “Being able to explore what I wanted to do and how wanted to do it.’’

And she says having time and space to step out of her previously fast-paced lifestyle and into a more leisurely existence was beneficial for her mental health too.

“Tasmania has a wonderful way of making you see all of yourself,’’ Leong says.

“I find Tasmania to be a very healing and introspective place and I think that’s very healthy.’’

The career choices she made while in Tasmania helped lead Leong to MasterChef Australia, where she became the show’s first female judge in 2019, joining TV presenter and chef Jock Zonfrillo and former MasterChef contestant Andy Allen. Leong has become known for her quick wit, warmth, encyclopaedic food knowledge and bold outfit choices which help to showcase the work of Australian fashion designers.

The current season, MasterChef Australia: Fans & Favourites, which is now showing on Network Ten, is her third season as a judge, while she has also judged two seasons of Junior MasterChef.

Leong admits it has been “a crazy couple of years” but she’s enjoying the role, particularly when it brings her to special places like Tasmania.

Three episodes of the show were filmed in Tasmania over three days in May, with Tasmania’s East Coast, Derwent Valley and Launceston (a UNESCO City of Gastronomy) in the spotlight, with the episodes set to air on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday this week (July 3-5).

The final six contestants can be seen visiting Freycinet Marine Farm, meeting owner Giles Fisher and harvesting their own oysters in the picturesque surrounds of Coles Bay before undertaking a challenge at Devil’s Corner Winery.

They then visit the state's North, hunting for truffles at The Truffle Farm Tasmania in Deloraine, with farmer Anna Terry and her friendly dogs, before returning to Launceston’s Peppers Silo Hotel to cook outdoors by the Tamar River.

Contestants then spend a day in Tasmania’s Derwent Valley, competing in a service challenge at Lawrenny Distillery at Ouse, where they must each cook a dish for 20 diners and three judges, with the least impressive contestant eliminated from the competition.

Leong says as luck would have it, filming occurred on “those perfect wintry, sunny days, with blue skies and a bit of a chill in the air” that she loved during her time living in Tassie.

She says it was great to introduce the contestants and fellow judges to the “absolutely incredible” state she once called home.

“Tasmania is one of the best states for road trips and seeing the ever-changing landscape is just a beautiful thing,’’ Leong says.

“And we just got to celebrate incredible producers as we went.”

She says returning to the state felt both triumphant and bittersweet as she reflected on everything that has happened in her life – both personally and professionally – over the past 10 years.

“It was very, very strange to return in a very different light,’’ says Leong, who recently walked the Logies red carpet, presented on stage, collected an award when MasterChef was named Most Popular Reality Program and was one of seven celebrities nominated for the Gold Logie for the most popular personality on Australian TV.

“(When I was living here) I was feeling out what the next chapter of my life would be like, I knew I wanted to stay in food but I didn’t really know what form that would take. “So to come back in this capacity, to come back on MasterChef, it was a bit of a full-circle moment.

“While I wasn’t born in Tasmania I do feel a tremendous amount of pride having lived there for a couple of years. There’s just so much to love and be proud of when it comes to the Apple Isle.’’

She didn’t win the Gold Logie (Hamish Blake did). Or the Silver Logie for Most Popular Presenter (again won by Hamish Blake). But simply being nominated was a feat in itself, with Leong saying it was a “huge step in the right direction” for diversity and multicultural Australia and a “distinct honour” and huge “symbol” to people who haven’t seen people like themselves be portrayed in the media.

“Ten-year-old Mel would never have dreamed a weird, late-bloomer outcast migrant kid like me would be nominated for a bloody GOLD LOGIE … I am beyond blown away,’’ Leong wrote to her 312,000 followers on Instagram, where she operates under the handle Fooderati.

“I am a small, imperfect person who believes in being better every day, and inciting others to believe and action the same. Together we change things, we represent each other, and we move the needle forward.’’

Despite her profile as a TV and radio presenter, an event MC, a food and travel writer, Lexus ambassador and children’s book author (A Taste Adventure with Melissa Leong is due for release on September 15), being in the public eye is still not something she is overly comfortable with.

“I definitely hadn’t considered television (as a career option),’’ she admits.

“And I still don’t necessarily fit television in that regard.

“I love the work, but it’s the other parts of what it means to be on television, having strangers weigh in on the finer nuances of your private life – I’m not really cut out for that, I don't necessarily enjoy that part of things. I’d most definitely rather be on the farm, minding my own business, than signing autographs and doing red carpet things, but it’s part of the job.’’

While she endeavours to keep certain parts of her life private, and strictly limits comments on her Instagram account to avoid trolls, Leong does talk openly about her mental health struggles in a bid to help others.

She recalls seeing a doctor in her 20s that explained that if you had a broken arm, you’d see a doctor to have it fixed. And the same applies to mental health – “you need to see to it and know that you’ve healed,’’ Leong says.

Which set her on a path to slowing down, reassessing her life and incorporating things like pilates into her lifestyle.

On the set of MasterChef she has a codeword she can give to producers if she needs a quick break to calm her body and mind.

“Everybody goes through struggles at some stage in their life, some are exacerbated and some are low-key, but we all struggle from time to time,’ Leong says.

She says she’s candid about her mental health journey in the hope that “someone might feel less alone” in their own life journey.

“I think we need to prioritise our health,” she says.

“All of our health – not just mental but physical health as well, we so often neglect that in the modern age.’’

And Leong says this is something she’s becoming more aware of as each year passes.

“I enjoy every year that I live because I get to learn a little bit more and get a bit more wisdom,’’ she says.

Due to the pandemic, Leong hasn’t been to Tasmania in the past couple of years, apart from the recent filming stint. But she hopes now that Covid restrictions continue to ease she may get the opportunity to spend more time here and visit some of the friends she made while living in the state.

“When I moved to the country in Tasmania I swore I’d never move back to the city,’’ explains Leong, who currently lives on the Melbourne’s city fringe.

“But it was a function of my job to be back in Sydney and eventually Melbourne.

“I do love it, but I find it better (being) in the country. Eventually I hope to have a bit of a split between the city and the country.

“I’m not on property now, but gosh I wish I was – I’m very grateful that I had that time in Tasmania.’’•

Watch MasterChef Australia: Fans & Favourites on Network Ten from Sunday to Thursday at 7.30pm. The three episodes filmed in Tasmania are set to air on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday this week (July 3-5).