{"id":176573,"date":"2025-09-29T02:53:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T02:53:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/176573\/"},"modified":"2025-09-29T02:53:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T02:53:11","slug":"melissa-leong-masterchef-australia-judge-opens-up-on-being-sexually-abused-while-working-in-hospitality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/176573\/","title":{"rendered":"Melissa Leong: MasterChef Australia judge opens up on being sexually abused while working in hospitality"},"content":{"rendered":"

Melissa Leong has revealed she was sexually abused while working in the hospitality industry 15 years ago.<\/p>\n

The MasterChef Australia judge shared the harrowing experience in an interview with The Age<\/a> to promote her upcoming memoir Guts, which chronicles the 43-year-old\u2019s career in food and television.<\/p>\n

In the book, she recalls being asked to speak at an International Women\u2019s Day event on diversity in the media, where she was deeply moved by fellow panellist Anna Coutts-Trotter\u2019s speech about surviving sexual abuse.<\/p>\n

Sign up to The Nightly’s newsletters.<\/p>\n

Get the first look at the digital newspaper, curated daily stories and breaking headlines delivered to your inbox.<\/p>\n

By continuing you agree to our Terms<\/a> and Privacy Policy<\/a>.\"WriterWriter and food critic Melissa Leong. Credit: MAGNER MEDIA<\/p>\n

That moment prompted Leong to confront her own past.<\/p>\n

\u201cI identified with (her story) far too much,\u201d she admitted.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was so ashamed that I just pretended it didn\u2019t happen, so I didn\u2019t keep proof \u2026 I just wanted it to all go away,\u201d she explained, revealing that she did not even view herself as a victim of sexual assault at the time.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on the era, she added: \u201cI let my boundaries be flagrantly crossed, and then I took that blame onto myself for such a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MelissaMelissa Leong’s new memoir Guts is set for September 30 release. Credit: Melissa Leong\/IG\/IG<\/p>\n

Her decision to speak openly comes amid a broader reckoning in Australia\u2019s hospitality industry, with more women now sharing accounts of abuse and harassment inside some of the country\u2019s most celebrated venues.<\/p>\n

Last year, Sydney hospitality group Swillhouse faced allegations of rape, misconduct, and unsafe workplace practices across several of its high-profile venues, including Le Foote in The Rocks and CBD whisky bar Baxter Inn.<\/p>\n

Although founder and former CEO Anton Forte was not accused of wrongdoing, he addressed the scandal in a video statement on the company\u2019s Instagram, acknowledging staff had been let down.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to create a culture of openness, generosity and respect but along the way we messed up,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s heartbreaking to know that people were unsupported, unheard and let down. I\u2019m deeply sorry for that.<\/p>\n

Mr Forte described the claims as \u201cfar-reaching\u201d and reflective of \u201ca period of time where our business wasn\u2019t as sophisticated as it is now.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, he stressed: \u201cWe don\u2019t take them lightly and we respect people\u2019s experiences and their need to share their stories publicly. We\u2019ve heard you, we are listening and we are accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Forte later stepped down as CEO, with Lisa Hobbs taking over leadership of the group.<\/p>\n

If you or someone you know needs help, contact 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732), or Sexual Assault Counselling Australia on 1800 211 028, or Lifeline on 13 11 14.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Melissa Leong has revealed she was sexually abused while working in the hospitality industry 15 years ago. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":176574,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,2331,44,427],"class_list":{"0":"post-176573","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-australia","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-culture","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176573"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176573\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/176574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}