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Melissa Leong is getting brutally honest about the mistakes she made in her marriage and the moment she realised it was doomed from the start.
The former MasterChef Australia judge, 43, opened up on the Inherited podcast this week, revealing that she bought her own engagement ring before marrying her ex-husband Joe Jones, something she now admits should have been a warning sign.
“I bought it myself, which should have been the first red flag,” she confessed.
Melissa explained that she was 34 at the time and felt the pressure to settle down before turning 35. A milestone that, in hindsight, pushed her to rush into something she wasn’t ready for.
“I rushed… I’m 34, I’ve just met this amazing human being, who’s just barrelled on into my life,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting it, so it was all very, ‘Let’s get married,’ within a three-month period of being together.”
The pair eloped in California not long after meeting, but their whirlwind romance fizzled out four years later. Looking back, Melissa says it wasn’t Joe’s fault, she just wasn’t in the right headspace to make such a big commitment.
“I was in no way ready,” she admitted. “I put unnecessary pressure on myself to hit certain milestones in life.”
While their marriage ended, Melissa insists there’s no bitterness between them. In fact, she’s previously said she and Joe remain close friends and still have “mutual respect” for one another.
“I’m very lucky that we have an enduring friendship and the greatest hope for each other’s happiness,” she previously told Stellar Magazine. “It’s important to destigmatise divorce being a ‘failure’. It’s not.”
Melissa, who was later linked to creative director Rob Mason in 2021, says she’s now single, content, and focused on herself.
“I’m great as I am,” she told the podcast, adding that she’s open to love again if someone “deserves” to be in her life.
