MasterChef Australia judge Melissa Leong has praised her co-star Jock Zonfrillo for his “allyship” amid the slew of trolls she’s encountered since joining the cooking show this year.
Appearing on last night’s The Sunday Project, Melissa pointed out how “important” it is for a “white male to call out racism” and too bloody true, Mel.
“Jock has become such a dear friend of mine and he is one of my work husbands, and he is just such a great human being in terms of the way that he sees the experiences of others,” she told Lisa Wilkinson. “That right there is a perfect example of allyship.”
Melissa Leong, who is returning to TV as a judge on Junior MasterChef, went on to say that she’s experienced racism her whole life and certain incidents from her childhood still haunt her.
“It’s tough. I think that as a human being, I pride myself on being resilient and being competent and smashing through all of the challenges that I have,” she said.
“But I think it’s important to be vulnerable and to really pay attention to your emotions.”
She concluded: “If experiences in my childhood have helped me become strong, then I can articulate those experiences, and perhaps tell people out there that have gone through the same thing that they are not alone.”
It comes after Jock called out a viewer back in June who sent him a vile, racist message about Melissa Leong.
The celebrity chef shared a screenshot of message, which read: “Geez I will be glad when this dumb arse MasterChef finishes I wouldn’t watch it but sick of while watching other 10 program.
“Having to watch trailers of you and that painful g**k criticise what is put in front of you because a pea is in the wrong place half the stuff no one would ever make geez you are so far up yourselves.”
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“She’s a woman whose origin happens to be different than yours, but why does that make you so afraid? I feel sorry for you that you cannot see past the colour of someone’s skin or actually the fact they are just different than your white ass in any way.”
He added, “Graham, please get educated and be a better human. You owe it to yourself and everyone around you who are most probably too embarrassed by the shit you say to let you know.
“I’m sick of this type of thing getting sent to me so here’s a heads up… if you send this kind of s**t to me it’s getting called out,” he concluded.
At the time, Melissa Leong reposted the comment on her Instagram Stories, writing: “I couldn’t help myself, I had to mark this one up. Grammar is the difference between knowing your shit, and knowing you’re shit.”
Credit: Instagram.
Junior MasterChef kicked off last night and continues tonight at 7.30pm on Ten.
