How Melissa Leong defines success (and why Masterchef wasn’t it)
KICPOD9 Des 2025

How Melissa Leong defines success (and why Masterchef wasn’t it)

Melissa Leong is a food writer and a former judge on Masterchef Australia. This year Melissa published her memoir ‘Guts’ and we were so excited to finally have her on the pod to talk about it!!

In this episode, Melissa sits down with us to talk about how she balanced writing a book about herself with keeping things personal, the pressure of taking on one of the most high profile jobs in the country (as a judge on Masterchef) and all the expectations that came with it, how she thinks about success, burnout, and the freedom that comes from bucking societal expectations.

FIND OUT MORE

Follow Melissa on Instagram @fooderati

Melissa’s book is called Guts. You can buy it here: https://www.dymocks.com.au/guts-by-melissa-leong-9781922616760

FOLLOW US

KICPOD @kicpod on Instagram
Steph Claire Smith @stephclairesmith on Instagram & @steph_claire_smith on TikTok
Laura Henshaw @laura.henshaw on Instagram & @laura.henshaw on Tiktok
Kic @kic.app on Instagram & @kic on TikTok and kicapp.com or download the app from the App Store and Google Play Store

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episoder(531)

A deep dive into #SkinnyTok

A deep dive into #SkinnyTok

If your feeds are anything like ours, you’ve probably also noticed more #skinnytok and #diettok content recently. This week we unpack both, what’s so problematic about this type of content, and some r...

20 Jul 202540min

The reality of living with Type-1 diabetes & waiting for an organ transplant - with Rechelle Coombes

The reality of living with Type-1 diabetes & waiting for an organ transplant - with Rechelle Coombes

Rechelle Coombes was diagnosed with Type-1 diabetes when she was 12. In her teens and early 20’s, Rechelle developed diabulimia (an eating disorder where diabetics restrict themselves of insulin) whic...

15 Jul 20251h 1min

Welcome back Steph!

Welcome back Steph!

This week Steph updates us on how things have been going for the past 5 weeks since she gave birth to baby Billie, plus how it went introducing Harvey to Billie for the first time, and what’s going on...

13 Jul 202536min

Ten things Laura does to stay healthy during winter

Ten things Laura does to stay healthy during winter

The temperature has dropped, the days are getting shorter, and everything feels a bit harder than it should right now. We’re in the depths of winter in Australia right now and so for this special Frid...

10 Jul 202526min

Q&A with Laura’s husband Dalton on pregnancy, childbirth & becoming a dad

Q&A with Laura’s husband Dalton on pregnancy, childbirth & becoming a dad

This week Dalton is back on the podcast to answer all of your pregnancy questions! You asked: what are you most excited for? Are you scared to see Laura go through labour? Do you know the gender? How...

8 Jul 202533min

A catch up with Zara McDonald: our top 3 business lessons

A catch up with Zara McDonald: our top 3 business lessons

Zara McDonald is the co-founder of Shameless Media and co-host of Shameless podcast. We know you guys love Shameless as much as us, so we hope you love this chat with Zara as much as we do! In this sp...

6 Jul 202548min

Turning anxiety into action - with Milly Bannister

Turning anxiety into action - with Milly Bannister

Milly Bannister is the Founder of Gen-Z mental health charity ALLKND. We spoke about Milly on a Monday catch up episode a few months ago when she went to Canberra for the Budget lock-up and so we were...

1 Jul 202538min

A catch up with Hannah Ferguson: politics, feminism + the word “influencer”

A catch up with Hannah Ferguson: politics, feminism + the word “influencer”

This week our special guest co-host is the Founder and CEO of Cheek Media, Hannah Ferguson! Laura caught up with Hannah to talk about the word “influencer”, how the mainstream media reacted when Hann...

29 Jun 202553min

Populært innen Samfunn

rss-spartsklubben
alt-fortalt
giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
aftenpodden-usa
konspirasjonspodden
rss-nesten-hele-uka-med-lepperod
popradet
rss-henlagt-andy-larsgaard
wolfgang-wee-uncut
grenselos
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
fladseth
frokostshowet-pa-p5
min-barneoppdragelse
rss-dannet-uten-piano
rss-dette-ma-aldri-skje-igjen
synnve-og-vanessa
den-politiske-situasjonen
rss-herrepanelet