Melissa Leong has revealed she was sexually abused while working in the hospitality industry 15 years ago.

The MasterChef Australia judge shared the harrowing experience in an interview with The Age to promote her upcoming memoir Guts, which chronicles the 43-year-old’s career in food and television.

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

That moment prompted Leong to confront her own past.

“I identified with (her story) far too much,” she admitted.

“I was so ashamed that I just pretended it didn’t happen, so I didn’t keep proof … I just wanted it to all go away,” she explained, revealing that she did not ev

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