MasterChef judge Melissa Leong ‘signs a million-dollar deal to host Junior Masterchef Australia’

Melissa Leong has reportedly signed a generous new deal to host the next two seasons of Junior Masterchef Australia.  

After making her judging debut on Masterchef Australia this year alongside Jock Zonfrillo and Andy Allen, the 38-year-old ‘breakout star’ is said to have impressed the executives at Channel 10 so much that she will now be getting rewarded accordingly. 

A source has told New Idea: ‘Melissa has a new big Masterchef deal. It’s confirmed. She will head up the judging panel of Junior Masterchef [Australia], and it’s a million-dollar deal for the next two series.’ 

As well as offering her culinary expertise to children, Melissa has also reportedly signed on the dotted line to return to Masterchef next year.  

‘There’s no denying she’s the breakout star of the new judges. All of her hard work has paid off. With her new increased Masterchef salary for 2021 plus Junior [Masterchef], she has hit the magic million mark. Everyone loves her!’ 

While the source adds that her fellow judges Jock and Andy will return to Masterchef next year, ‘they will not be doing Mastechef Junior and will be replaced by more child/teen friendly judges.’ 

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Channel Ten for further comment. 

In April, Channel Ten surprised avid cooking fans with the unexpected news that spin-off series, Junior MasterChef Australia, was casting for its new season. 

The Australian series of the competition ran for two seasons between 2010 and 2011, and was hosted by judges Gary Mehigan, Matt Preston and George Calombaris.

In 2011, the series was won by 11-year-old Greta Yaxley from Western Australia.

Meanwhile, Melissa’s exciting news comes after she appeared on The Sunday Project and hit back at trolls who said that she ‘wasn’t qualified’ to judge on the show.

‘I didn’t know the trolls had a copy of my CV, of my decade-long journey through food!’ she joked.

‘But it is a cathartic thing to show my knowledge about food, but there’s always more to learn. So let’s just add to the CV.’

Then, cheekily, she waved to the camera and said, ‘Hi, trolls!’