"At home in Melbourne's Carlton North, Melissa Leong is feeling apprehensive. She's preparing to spend the day talking about her new memoir, Guts, which reveals personal struggles she has never before spoken about publicly. This part laying yourself bare, so to speak, multiple times a day is challenging, she says. It's mentally challenging. It's emotionally challenging. The former MasterChef judge and Dessert Masters host describes herself as an introvert, a private person who likes to retreat and recover after a day on set."
"I have become a bit of an expert at it, she writes, though she's wary of encouraging others to do the same. If you are going to push the big red button, you do need to be prepared for some fallout, because it's inherently a selfish thing, Leong says. And when I say selfish, I don't mean selfish in a bad way."
"Leong says she shut herself away to write about what felt true to her, including her childhood in the predominantly white suburb of Cronulla, Sydney, in the 80s; how chronic pain halted a promising musical career (she started playing the piano aged three); her work as a makeup artist; quitting her first corporate job and breaking into the surprisingly hostile at the time world of food writing."
Melissa Leong reveals battles with depression and anxiety, loneliness experienced while filming MasterChef, and episodes of bulimia, self-harm and sexual violence. She identifies as an introvert who needs privacy and recovery after public-facing work and finds repeated public vulnerability mentally and emotionally challenging. Her life includes leaving a secure job to live on a sheep dairy in Tasmania, a divorce, and a recurring pattern of radical life changes. She warns that drastic choices carry fallout and can be inherently selfish, while also asserting that resistance from others can provide motivation and clarity.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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