MasterChef judge breaks down in tears in emotional moment

We’re down to the final six contestants on MasterChef, with each and every elimination now seriously pulling on the heartstrings.

And it seems like tonight’s episode is set to be an emotional one, as the chefs battle it out to make it through to the top five.

In a promo clip, judge Melissa Leong can be seen wiping away tears as she gushes over one dish in particular.

“I’m actually crying with joy. That doesn’t happen very often but yeah,” she can be heard saying.

“I’m really proud to eat food like this. I think it’s absolutely spot on and that's what great food can do. That’s what we look for here.”

Fellow judges Andy Allen and Jock Zonfrillo also seem taken aback by the dish, which wasn’t revealed in the promo.

It comes after Jock called out a stunning example of racist hatred against Melissa in an Instagram post yesterday.

The Scottish-born South Australian chef took to Instagram to share a vile message of hate sent in by a fan, who used an ugly slur while criticising Melissa.

The judge took to Instagram with a screenshot of the message, deciding to expose the man’s name for all to see as a way of naming and shaming some of the vitriol the judges, and Melissa in particular, deal with on a daily basis.

“Where to begin with this...” he wrote in the caption of the screenshot.

“Firstly I can only assume you are referring to Fooderati (Melissa’s Instagram handle) when you used the term ‘g**k’.”

“She’s actually Melissa, she’s my work wife, my sister, my mate, she drinks espresso like I do, she is able to express and articulate a damn sight better than you can clearly and that is just the beginning Graham. She’s a woman whose origin happens to be different than yours, but why does that make you so afraid?”

He went on to directly address the bully and call out his issues with non-white people.

“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.”

“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.”

He went on to issue a warning to anyone else thinking of sending in a private, hateful message to any of the judges.

“I’m sick of this type of thing getting sent to me so here’s a heads up... if you send this kind of shit to me it’s getting called out.”

Sign up to our daily newsletter here to get all the latest news and hacks. Or get in touch at lifestyle.tips@verizonmedia.com.