The second season of Channel 10’s top-rated MasterChef spin-off series Dessert Masters launched on Sunday, but host Melissa Leong’s publicity team was in crisis mode ahead of the premiere.
According to an informed source, the celebrity chef, 42, was “afraid to speak to the media” amid allegations of a feud with former MasterChef Australia co-star Andy Allen.
The source claims Leong is setting the wheels in motion to return to MasterChef Australia, without Allen.
“Melissa told Ten she will return to MasterChef Australia when Andy Allen leaves,” a TV source told Daily Mail Australia.
“I think the idea of returning to what the show once was for her seems a little daunting and the only way Melissa would come back is if the entire format was revamped.”
Melissa left MasterChef Australia last year under a cloud of suspicion over an alleged dispute 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 that she was no longer on the MasterChef Australia lineup.
Melissa Leong ‘dreaded’ a recent publicity tour following reports of a row between her and former MasterChef co-star Andy Allen.
Leong surprised fans when she shared the news of her departure on Instagram a day before the network’s 2024 Upfronts.
“I always planned to accept the changing of the guard, and I am very happy to do so today on my terms,” Leong wrote last October.
Meanwhile, the affable Allen returned to the show this year alongside three new judges: media darling Poh Ling Yeow, Michelin-starred chef Jean-Christophe Novelli and Melbourne food critic Sofia Levin.
Leong’s departure came after it was claimed she had been fired following a series of publicized off-camera dramas.
Leong infamously had a breakup with the show’s hair and makeup team along with a replacement freelance stylist in 2022.
“Andy has no problems with Leong,” the source told Daily Mail Australia. But she previously expressed that her former colleague wasted a lot of time doing her hair and makeup.
“He felt that his perfectionism compromised his control over what was filmed.”
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 star Poh Ling Yeow, Michelin-starred chef Jean-Christophe Novelli and Melbourne food critic Sofia Levin.
The source also claimed that Leong jumped on Dessert Masters to prove himself to network executives while waiting for the heat to cool down.
In the first season of Dessert Masters, a group of Australian pastry chefs competed for a $100,000 prize and provided a ratings boost for the network in the highly competitive reality television market.
The premiere episode had 451,000 Australians tuning in across major cities and viewers praised the TV veteran.
Ten confirmed MasterChef will host an All Stars season in 2025 in which fan-favorite contestants from previous years will return to win.
Gordon Ramsay, perhaps the world’s most iconic celebrity chef, also signed on as the fifth judge.
In comparison, the second season of Dessert Masters received a paltry supplement.
“People said it wasn’t compelling enough to greenlight the show again,” the source continued.
“Network Ten announced at Upfronts that Masterchef Australia will return next year and overlooked the fact that they had no plans to film the third season of Dessert Masters.”
It is yet to be revealed what Leong will do next for Ten Network.
The word inside Ten is Dessert Masters will return in 2025, but the network bought itself some time by delaying a formal announcement until after the second season has aired.
“Last year, there was a huge appetite for the debut of Dessert Masters,” a Ten spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia.
“In 2024, we will be happy to serve a second helping.”
Leong infamously had a falling out with the show’s hair and makeup team along with a replacement freelance stylist 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.
He attended Zonfrillo’s funeral in May 2023 with an entourage, but unlike Allen, he was not given a prominent role in the ceremony.
Zonfrillo’s widow Lauren Fried fueled rumors of a feud between the trio of MasterChef Australia judges by sharing her thoughts on the new judges on Instagram.
In a lengthy social media post, she wrote that her late husband would be “very happy” with the lineup without Leong.
Allen and the late MasterChef Australia judge Jock Zonfrillo were close friends
‘This would make Jock immensely happy: @andyallencooks unexpectedly came into our lives four years ago. “He quickly became Jock’s best friend, shared a passion for food and fun, and was someone who cared deeply about our family,” he wrote at the time.
“This is a group of people who respect the privilege of being part of such an extraordinary show, know they are stronger together than they are individually, and want to help the contestants make their eating dreams a reality.”
When asked about friction on the MasterChef Australia set ahead of his surprise tree change in 2023, Leong said: “I have nothing but love and respect for not only Andy but everyone I’ve worked with.”
“We’re a team, we’re a family, and that’s all you really need to know.”
