If you think about it, this is really a logical choice considering many if not the majority of MasterChef Australia winners and finalists were all Aussies of colour, and the idea of having 2 white men and 1 non white (as George is Greek background) at the helm of judging really didn’t make sense. Well now we can say that the show is moving away from the judgments of George, Matt and Gary and will now be in the hands of Melissa Leong, Andy Allen and Jock Zonfrillo – a quite diverse trio of judges, and finally it reflects the diversity of participants who enter MasterChef each year. Though for the sake of this site and this piece, we will focus on the Asian Australian who has boarded the MasterChef bus – Melissa Leong.
Leong is a food and travel writer,food media consultant, radio broadcaster, television presenter, MC and cookbook editor – yes quite a mouthful. What I love about Leong is that she has this strong, don’t give a fuck attitude and will say whatever is on her mind. A recent example of this was when, Leong came out to Huff Post Australia about the “yellow fever”/fetishised comments she receives on a daily basis.
This is what she tells Huff Post Australia:
“As a woman of Asian origin, it’s a daily onslaught of fetishistic comments from strangers about your appearance and sexuality, and if I’m asked, ‘But where are you really from?’ one more time, I might explode,”
“Being Asian and female and being quite a confident person who’s out there all the time, I hear it a lot,” she said. “People find energy attractive. When you’re outgoing and you’re Asian and you’re a female, people go, ‘Oh that’s awesome, I’ve totally got yellow fever’. Well that’s really disgusting.”
One thing is for sure is that Leong who is first generation Singaporean Australian will not keep quiet and will bring energy and sass to the upcoming season of MasterChef Australia. We will definitely reach out to her for an interview for the site, but till then, check her out on MasterChef Australia in its upcoming season in 2020.
Images via news.com.au
To read the original article, please click on: Who exactly are the three new MasterChef judges? and to read the Huff Post Australia article, please click on: Melissa Leong, New MasterChef Australia Judge, Reveals How Asian Fetishisation Is ‘A Daily Onslaught For Me’
great page, Erin. OMGoddess, you have done so much work. I am so proud of you, your diligence, and your creative mind and political activism. Dr Moni Lai Storz
i love this!!!!! i should start watching masterchef again just for her, i haven’t seen it since high school days