The second season of Channel 10’s high-rating MasterChef spin-off series Dessert Masters launched on Sunday — but presenter Melissa Leong’s publicity team were in crisis mode before the premiere.
According to a well-placed insider, the celebrity chef, 42, was ‘dreading talking to the media’ amid claims of a feud with former MasterChef Australia co-star Andy Allen.
The source claims Leong is putting wheels in motion to return to MasterChef Australia – without Allen.
‘Melissa told Ten that she’ll go back to MasterChef Australia when Andy Allen goes,’ a TV insider told Daily Mail Australia.
‘I think the idea of returning to what the show once was for her seems a bit daunting and the only way Melissa would ever return is if the whole format was revamped.’
Melissa left MasterChef Australia last year under a cloud of suspicion about an alleged feud with her former co-host Allen.
Following revelations of backstage tensions between Leong and crew members employed by Ten’s production partner Endemol Shine in 2022, came news she was no longer in the MasterChef Australia line-up.
Melissa Leong ‘feared’ a recent publicity tour following reports of a feud between her and former MasterChef co-star Andy Allen
Leong shocked fans when she shared news of her departure to Instagram one day before the network’s 2024 Upfronts.
‘The changing of the guard is one I always planned to embrace, and I’m so glad to do that on my terms, today,’ Leong penned last October.
Meanwhile, affable Allen returned to the show this year alongside three new judges – media darling Poh Ling Yeow, Michelin-star chef Jean-Christophe Novelli and Melbourne food critic Sofia Levin.
Leong’s departure came after claims she had been axed following a string of publicised off-camera dramas.
Leong infamously had a blow up with the program’s hair and make-up team along with a substitute freelance hairstylist in 2022.
‘Andy has no beef with Leong,’ the source told Daily Mail Australia. ‘But he previously expressed his former colleague wasted a lot of time in hair and makeup.
‘He felt her control over what was filmed was compromised by her perfectionism.’
Channel 10 and Endemol Shine did not respond to any of the allegations when contacted by Daily Mail Australia.
Andy now stars on MasterChef Australia alongside media darling Poh Ling Yeow, Michelin-star chef Jean-Christophe Novelli and Melbourne food critic Sofia Levin
The insider also claimed Leong jumped ship to Dessert Masters to prove her worth to network executives while she waited for the heat to die down.
Dessert Masters’ first season saw a group of Australian pastry chefs compete for a $100,000 prize and deliver a ratings salve for the network in the highly competitive reality TV market.
The premiere episode had 451,000 Australians tuning in across all the major cities and viewers heaped praise on the TV veteran.
Ten confirmed MasterChef will be hosting an All Stars season in 2025 that will see fan favourite contestants from years past come ‘Back to Win’.
Gordon Ramsay, perhaps the most iconic celebrity chef in the world, has also signed on as a fifth judge.
The second season of Dessert Masters was given a paltry plug by comparison.
‘People said it wasn’t compelling enough to greenlight the show again,’ the insider continued.
‘Network Ten announced at the Upfronts that Masterchef Australia will be back next year and glossed over the fact they had no plans to shoot the third season of Dessert Masters.’
What Leong will do next for the Ten Network is yet to be revealed.
The word inside Ten is Dessert Masters will return in 2025, but the network has bought itself some time by delaying a formal announcement until after the second season has aired.
‘Last year, there was a strong appetite for the debut of Dessert Masters,’ a Ten spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia.
‘In 2024, we are delighted to plate up second helpings.’
Leong infamously had a blow up with the program’s hair and make-up team along with a substitute freelance hairstylist in 2022
Leong was a respected food critic and journalist before being elevated to household name status on MasterChef Australian alongside Allen and the late Jock Zonfrillo.
She attended Zonfrillo’s funeral in May 2023 with an entourage, but unlike Allen was not given a prominent role in the ceremony.
Zonfrillo’s widow Lauren Fried stoked rumours of a feud between the trio of MasterChef Australia judges by sharing her thoughts about the new judges to Instagram.
In a long social media post, she wrote that her late husband would be ‘very happy’ with the line-up without Leong.
Allen and late MasterChef Australia judge Jock Zonfrillo were close friends
‘This would make Jock immensely happy – @andyallencooks unexpectedly came into our life four years ago. He quickly became a best mate to Jock, shared a passion for food and fun, and was someone who cared deeply for our family,’ she wrote at the time.
‘This is a group of people who respect the privilege of being part of such an extraordinary show, they know they’re stronger together than as individuals, and they want to nurture contestants in turning their dream of food into a reality.’
When pressed about friction on the MasterChef Australia set prior to her surprise tree change in 2023, Leong said: ‘I have nothing but love and respect for not only Andy but everybody I’ve worked with.’
‘We’re a team, we’re a family, and that’s all you need to know really.’
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