MasterChef name three new judges after Mel Leong's departure

Melissa Leong, who hosted the reality cooking show alongside Jock Zonfrillo and Andy Allen since 2020, will not return in 2024.

"My time as co-host and judge on [MasterChef Australia] has been a great gift," she posted to Instagram on October 23.

Andy Allen will continue on the show with three new judges, former MasterChef contestant and TV cooking star Poh Ling Yeow, food critic Sofia Levin and Michelin Star-awarded French chef Jean-Christophe Novelli.

MasterChef's new additions come after the shocking death of judge Jock Zonfrillo in 2023.

Mr Allen said "2024 will be the start of a new chapter, and it will be surreal - yet brilliant - to share this moment with my fellow judges, Poh, Sofia and Jean-Christophe".

But he said the decision to return to the show was not one he took lightly after an "extremely difficult" year in 2023.

Ms Ling Yeow said landing the role as a MasterChef judge was a "full circle moment".

The TV chef, who wrote a handful of cook books after her time on the show, hopes her presence in the kitchen will remind contestants that "you don't have to win to win".

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Ms Levin, a journalist and food reviewer for the Good Food Guide, Lonely Planet and SBS Food, said she's "giddy with excitement at the people I get to stand beside".

A former personal chef to the Rothschild family, Mr Novelli brings culinary heft to the judging panel.

"Australian cuisine has a remarkable reputation on the world stage, and it will be a great privilege to meet and mentor the country's top home cooks on their journeys to greatness," he said.

Ms Leong will continue in the "MasterChef universe", hosting Dessert Masters alongside renowned Swiss pastry chef Amaury Guichon.