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The best and worst moments of Melissa Leong’s life are punctuated by memories of food.
There is the lo mai gai, which helped console her as a child, and the Hainanese chicken rice she learned to make from her mother, which she calls a “love letter” to her Singaporean heritage.
Recipes for these dishes are shared alongside stories of the moments that have shaped the food critic and TV host into who she is today in her intimate and revealing new memoir, Guts.
“Privacy is important to me and there are things that have happened in my life I never thought I would divulge,” Melissa admits to WHO.
“But I wanted to be honest and up-front. People see a polished studio performance and think that everything in my life has been smooth sailing. But I want people to know you don’t have to have had the perfect life to be able to go after the things that you want.”
While Melissa has long gone public about living with depression and anxiety, in her book, she revealed a tougher path than anyone could have imagined.
In a raw and unfiltered manner, Leong opened up about being a child of immigrants who was bullied at school and living with a father who ruled by physical punishment.
“A large part of the childhood my little brother and I had was spent living in fear of being beaten for the tiniest infraction,” Melissa wrote.
“My father still won’t apologise for all the damage he inflicted, insisting that it was how he was raised and that it was done for my own good.”
She also opened up about her rise in the hospitality industry, during which she was subjected to a horrific rape; the breakdown of her marriage to Joe Jones, which left her battling an eating disorder; and having thoughts of suicide and self-harm.
She further revealed the times she “blew it all up” in order to walk away to try to find something better.
These include a two-year stint living in Tasmania, where she worked in an abattoir, and her decision to leave MasterChef Australia in 2023 after a very successful four-season stint hosting alongside Andy Allen and the late Jock Zonfrillo, who passed away that year.
“I think we are all a product of where we came from and what we’ve been,” Melissa explains. “So that’s what guts means to me. It’s listening to my guts and following those feelings of intuition and knowing it’ll eventually put me on the right path, because not listening to it has already put me in this situation I know is not right.”
Unsurprisingly, Melissa is a massive advocate for therapy, which she attends regularly and credits with helping her through some of her darkest moments.
“I love therapy,” she says. “I see it as the same as if I’d broken my arm and went to an emergency department for treatment. It is a rough world out there and the cost of living is so high, I feel really lucky to live in a country where many of us can access these types of services.”
Also helping her heal from past traumas is Brazilian jiujitsu, which she revealed she’d taken up in 2024. She is working towards her third stripe on her white belt.
“Part of it was that I wanted to break the expectation that Melissa is just a foodie and that’s all,” she explains.
“But it has also given me strength. There are times in my life when I have felt incredibly weak. It helps give me a sense of belief in myself and means that I can walk around with a bit more composure and confidence in what I can handle.”
Having laid bare her journey so far in the pages of Guts, Melissa now feels ready to embrace a new chapter.
“One that is hopefully lighter and happier than the last,” she says.
Of the things that are missing in her very full life, at the top of the list is love. Following her 2020 divorce, Leong is now ready to explore the possibility of romance.
“I haven’t had much of a love-life if I’m honest,” she says. “I’ve got great friends, but I do feel there is room for more. If someone walks into my life who makes it a brighter and happier place, I am ready for that.”
Although she isn’t quite sure what form love might come in, Leong knows what she is looking for won’t be found “on the apps”.
“Dating is seriously the worst,” she confesses with a laugh.
“I went on an app because a friend said, ‘You just need to put yourself out there.’ It was one of the most soul-crushing five minutes of my life. My intuition tells me there is another way for me, even if I don’t see it yet. But, as I say, I have to trust my gut.”
She also has several new projects in the pipeline, including an upcoming TV show called Taste of Art. Melissa has just recently returned from Queenstown, where she was filming for a month alongside New Zealand chef Vaughan Mabee, who previously guest-starred on MasterChef with her.
As well as being in front of the camera, Leong also worked behind the scenes on the upcoming series, including writing scripts and in production, which she relished.
“I think that’s really the next logical step for me, working more in the background,” she says. “I get asked about it a lot and I think there isn’t really true diversity on the screen until you have people from different backgrounds writing, casting and pitching the shows. Life needs many flavours to it.”
Guts is out now; you can purchase via Dymocks.
