Melissa Leong

Early life

Leong was born in 1982 in Sydney and raised in the suburbs of Sutherland Shire. Her parents emigrated to Australia from Singapore. She has a younger brother. From the age of 13 to her early 20s, Leong studied piano but had to give up on a career in music due to a chronic repetitive strain injury.

She co-hosted The Chefs' Line with chefs Dan Hong and Mark Olive for two seasons in 2017, and 2018.

In October 2019, it was announced that Leong would be joining Network 10's cooking competition show MasterChef Australia, as a new judge alongside Jock Zonfrillo and Andy Allen, after former judges Matt Preston, Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris left the series when Ten refused to meet the trio's pay rise demands. Leong, Zonfrillo and Allen debuted on episode one of the show's twelfth season, which premiered on 13 April 2020. Later that year, Network 10 announced that a third season of MasterChef spin-off Junior MasterChef Australia, was set to air in October 2020, with Leong appearing as a judge alongside Allen and Zonfrillo.

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

In late 2022, Leong was announced as a judge on the all new MasterChef spinoff series, titled Dessert Masters. She judged and co-hosted the show alongside international pastry chef Amaury Guichon. Network 10 announced in their 2023 upfronts that the series was to be aired in the second half of 2023, after the fifteenth season of MasterChef Australia finishes. In October 2023, it was announced that Leong would not be returning as a host of MasterChef Australia.

In 2025, Leong competed in the third edition of the reality competition show The Amazing Race Australia: Celebrity Edition, finishing in sixth place. In September 2025, Leong published her memoir, titled Guts. Leong has had depression and anxiety throughout her life and has an autoimmune condition which has caused chronic insomnia and hair loss. In 2025, Leong publicly revealed that she had been raped when she was working in the hospitality industry in her 20s.