Melissa Leong has revealed a surprising career move as she steps out from the kitchen and onto the catwalk this week.
The former MasterChef Australia star, 43, will make her runway debut at Australian Fashion Week, reported The Daily Telegraph on Saturday.
The famous foodie, who is known for turning heads with her eye-catching looks, will hit the catwalk for long-time collaborator Gary Bigeni’s show Dance Bigeni, Dance.
The Sydney-based designer told the publication the collection would pay homage to movement.
‘It’s about showing up with confidence, in colour, in shape, in spirit – for you first,’ he said.
‘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.’
Melissa Leong, 43, has revealed a surprising career move as she steps out from the kitchen and onto the catwalk this week
Gary has a hearing disability and has worn hearing aids since birth.
It’s not the first time the foodie and the fashionista have collaborated, with Gary behind many of the eye-catching ensembles she wore during MasterChef.
In fact, the designer has named two dresses after the celebrity chef.
Back in 2021, Gary renamed a hand painted tye-dyed maxi dress she wore on the show the ‘Melissa’ after it sold out following it’s airing on the hit Channel Ten series.
Then, in 2024, Gary unveiled a new dress called the Leong, also in honour of his ‘muse’.
‘Melissa Leong muse wearing this bias cut silk dress hand painted by me,’ Gary wrote at the time.
‘All pieces are painted using dead stock to reduce wastage within the environment. Style Leong is named after Melissa Leong as a way of saying thank for your love and support over the years.’
Speaking to Refinery29 in 2022, Gary revealed he had known Melissa long before she wore his creations on the small screen.
The former MasterChef Australia star will make her runway debut at Australian Fashion Week, reported The Daily Telegraph on Saturday
The famous foodie, who is known for turning heads with her eye-catching looks, will hit the catwalk for long-time collaborator Gary Bigeni’s show Dance Bigeni, Dance
‘She’s always been a big supporter and a she’s a muse as well,’ he said.
‘She represents my [idea of] diversity – she represents real women to me and she’s very authentic.’
He added: ‘She’s very realistic and how you see her on TV is her in real life. She’s not pretending to be someone.’
Melissa left MasterChef Australia in 2023 under a cloud of suspicion about an alleged feud with her former co-host Andy Allen.
Following revelations of backstage tensions between Melissa and crew members employed by Ten’s production partner Endemol Shine in 2022, came news she was no longer in the MasterChef Australia line-up.
She shocked fans when she shared news of her departure to Instagram one day before the network’s 2024 Upfronts.
‘The changing of the guard is one I always planned to embrace, and I’m so glad to do that on my terms, today,’ Melissa wrote at the time.
