MasterChef Australia judge Melissa Leong axed from show

Melissa Leong has been axed from her role on the show - but who is going to replace her? Photo / Suppled

Melissa Leong has been “axed” from popular cooking show MasterChef Australia.

The judge’s controversial exit was announced by Channel Ten, with the broadcaster revealing a major shake-up to the judging panel ahead of its next season.

MasterChef runner-up Poh Ling Yeow and Michelin star chef Jean-Christophe Novelli are set to replace Leong, reports news.com.au.

A show insider told The Australian Financial Review that Leong was only informed at the beginning of this month that she wouldn’t be coming back to the popular cookery show, just a few weeks before filming for season 16 was set to start.

Yeow is best known by MasterChef fans as the much-loved runner-up from the series’ debut season back in 2009, who ended up hosting many cooking shows of her own since her exit.

Yeow took to social media to share her excitement over her return, saying: “Talk about a thrilling, full circle moment. MasterChef Australia is where my food story began, so this feels like coming home. A big part of me will always be standing on the other side with the contestants and I hope when they look to me, they see proof you don’t have to win to win.”

Food critic Sofia Levin will also be joining the judging panel, along with returning star Andy Allen. Former judge Leong will continue to star on fellow Channel Ten cooking show, Dessert Masters, which starts in November.

A Channel Ten spokesman added: “Melissa Leong remains a key member of the MasterChef Australia family. Melissa is set to return for a second season of Dessert Masters in 2024, alongside fellow judge and pastry prodigy Amaury Guichon.

“Next year, MasterChef Australia and Dessert Masters will air back-to-back, therefore each show needs its own distinct style and personality and its own unique hosting team.”

Reflecting on leaving the show, Leong said that her time on MasterChef Australia had been life-changing, and she would look back fondly on the experience.

“My time as co-host and judge on @MasterChefAU has been a great gift. To have been given the opportunity to learn and grow - and now to be given the vote of confidence to expand and evolve the MasterChef universe is huge!” she shared on Instagram.

“Stepping away from the main show and into #DessertMastersAU alongside the extraordinary @AmauryGuichon, is yet another sweet present indeed.

“It is with great warmth and enthusiasm that I wish this new lineup of judges and hosts all the best in making it theirs, and big love to @andyallencooks for leading the way,” she said.

“The changing of the guard is one I always planned to embrace, and I’m so glad to do that, on my terms, today.

“On top of all that joy, I am excited to share with you (soon), some other projects I’ve been working on behind the scenes, so watch this space!

“My gratitude to our audience for all your support, can’t wait for you to see the new show. Love and respect always.”

Andy Allen admitted that his decision to return to MasterChef following the tragic passing of co-star, Jock Zonfrillo, was “not one he took lightly”.

He said: “After an extremely difficult year in 2023, and upon reflection, the decision to return to the series is not one I took lightly,” he shared with The Daily Telegraph.

“But there is something special in the MasterChef Australia Kitchen, and it feels right to come back to work with the amazing production team, and to play my role in seeing the contestants do as I have done.

“2024 will be the start of a new chapter, and it will be surreal – yet brilliant – to share this moment with my fellow judges, Poh, Sofia and Jean-Christophe.”