She might be known for her stint as a judge on MasterChef, but Melissa Leong officially made her runway debut.
The 43-year-old has strutted down the catwalk at Australian Fashion Week, and based on her Instagram feed, which already features a range of dynamic looks, it’s not surprising.
According to Sydney Confidential, she joined the Gary Bigeni show on May 15, at Carriageworks, for his Dance Bigeni, Dance show.
In the lead-up to her modelling moment, the television journalist, writer, presenter and MC has shared her excitement.
“Prepping for my runway debut at Australia Fashion Week,” she said earlier in the week on Instagram.
On the day of the show, she shared an Instagram story posing in a wardrobe with the caption: “Practising being a clothes horse ahead of today’s runway. Am I doing alright?”
“This collection is an homage to movement – to dancing for yourself before you dance for anyone else,” Gary said.
“It’s about showing up with confidence, in colour, in shape, in spirit – for you first. As someone who grew up with a disability, colour and form have always spoken loudly to me; they’ve been tools of joy, identity, and expression.”
According to the Australian Fashion Week website, he creates gender-neutral “made-to-order fine art collections”, where he paints designs by hand, and all of his garments are fashioned with ethically and sustainably sourced cotton.
If his Instagram page is anything to go by, we can expect Melissa to be in something colourful and eye-catching.
Self-expression has always been integral to the journalist and presenter.
“Whether that’s how we choose to dress, wear our hair, put on makeup, or carry ourselves in the world, I value a strong sense of identity in the way I carry myself, but also in the people I see along the way,” she told Lui Body.
Since she left MasterChef in 2023, and finished up on Dessert Masters in 2024, she’s been a part of the Ovarian Cancer Research Fountation’s Witchery White Shirt campaign, been a face for L’Oreal Paris’ cosmetics, spoken at the Future Women Leadership Summit, hosted events and joined this year’s cast of The Amazing Race Australia.
