Poh Ling Yeow is sitting in her eclectic home in Adelaide when we finally catch up with her. She’s just wrapped yet another busy week of shooting, her two budgies are chirping loudly in the background. There are glimpses of her art all around her, because, if you didn’t know this already, she’s a very talented and well-respected artist (her work has appeared in a bunch of publications). Dressed in a T-shirt, with only a tiny lick of colour on her lips, she’s relaxed, laughs easily and is disarmingly wise beyond her years.
Since first rising to stardom as runner-up to Julie Goodwin on the first series of MasterChef Australia in 2009, Poh, 48, has become a familiar face, thanks to her effervescent personality and fearless approach to cooking, which has propelled her into celebrity cooking status. You’ll see her back in action on our screens soon, once again co-hosting the Nine Network’s Snackmasters, which sees two professional chefs compete to recreate a brand-name snack food.
Making the jump from contestant to host has been an interesting challenge and a role that Poh hasn’t always found easy. “I don’t think I’m very good at it,” she says, laughing her characteristic belly laugh. “I’m so used to being a contestant where, for the most part, you’re left to your own devices and to your own madness.” In contrast, being a television presenter means being front of room and having to hold space up there.
“That front-of-room energy is very kind of proper and I’m a big goofball!” she says. “I’m like such a dork and I love making people laugh. Having to be that poised is not my vibe, but I’m learning to do that and I’m learning to feel comfortable with that, which I’m happy with.”
A Passion For Food
Life hasn’t always been that simple for Poh. Before entering MasterChef, she felt adrift having let go of so much of her Malaysian heritage and identity to fit in. “I was like a snake just trying to shed my skin as a kid growing up in Australia, not looking the same as everyone and, at the age of 35, I’d done a good job of it,” she remembers. “I found myself in a position where I was like, I don’t have anything that I can legitimately hold on to.” It was on a family trip home for her grandparents’ 50th anniversary, when she realised what an important role food could play as an anchoring force in her life.
“There was a moment where my grandfather stood at the kitchen door and said, ‘It’s such a shame I can’t communicate with you, half my grandchildren, because you’ve all been brought up in Australia.’ And then we all sat down together and had lunch and I thought, wow, food has such a deep currency, being able to cross the language and generational barrier, and I knew I had to cling to this thing.” And it was that feeling that inspired her during her time on MasterChef. “It was the reason I was there, but I also wanted to see if I was really a good cook,” she says, laughing.
Surprisingly, her stint on the reality show almost didn’t happen for her. “I actually didn’t rock up for my second audition,” Poh says. “My art career was just starting to flourish and I’d built it completely on my own and I asked myself, ‘If this gets in the way, is it worth it?’ The producers ended up calling me going, ‘Where are you?’ And I said, ‘I don’t know, I’m not there obviously,’ and they were like, ‘Yes, clearly!’” In the end, they finally convinced her to come in.
Seeing The Bright Side
Poh’s outlook on life seems to be refreshingly optimistic. How does she deal with challenges life throws her way? “I don’t think about lessons as being hard – I love lessons!” she says. “I’m one of those weirdos that just takes it as an opportunity to learn from. I think it was after my first divorce [from husband Matthew Phipps] that I realised that there’s absolutely a silver lining in every situation; you just have to look for it.”
She credits Matt with still being one of her closest confidants and is also currently her agent. “We live this creative symbiosis that’s like nothing else I have in my life,” says Poh. “We went through our divorce in such an unconventional way where we supported each other through our sadness. We didn’t really have separation anxiety because he moved across the road,” she jokes. “From that, we were able to retain all the best parts of what brought us together and ditch the stuff that wasn’t working. Life is all about learning and it’s when something terrible happens that there’s a weird part of my brain that goes, ‘Oh, this is a time for new beginnings. It’s a sign that something’s not working. It’s a chance for renewal and new ways of thinking and looking at situations.
“I think this is my greatest talent: being able to have an equal amount of optimism for when something disastrous happens in my life. I’m good at dealing with trauma. Life is all about contrast. If you didn’t have contrast, you would never appreciate what you have. Life ebbs and flows; without it, your life would just flatline. I like to lean into the hard things, and I really, really appreciate them.”
Embracing The Unknown
Looking back, Poh says she doesn’t have many regrets in her life. She does, however, wish she didn’t burn that butter that saw her eliminated from MasterChef’s all-stars season two years ago, but says she’s someone that “sweats the small things instead of the big things”. It’s this ability that she credits to being an independent creative. “I’m so used to having to make my own decisions that I’m happy to fall on my own sword; happy to make mistakes and own them,” she says.
With age has come wisdom for Poh, who separated from her second husband, Jonathan Bennett, last year. Realising that you can’t control others and how they feel has been freeing. “Everyone’s emotional truths are their truth,” she says. “It’s useless to say, ‘I’m right, you’re wrong.’ I’ve been through a 10-year marriage and a 13-year marriage, and I’ve learnt that, in the end, everything is completely subjective. One must embrace the unknown and also become friends with uncertainty. It’s when you try to control things too much that things go wrong.”
Walking It Off
In the midst of her busy schedule, Poh says walking has become her go-to timeout. “I walk an hour a day, even if it’s just down the road,” she shares. “It’s been very useful for me because I’m a bit of an obsessive personality. If you think I’m some Zen master, I’m not. I’m very neurotic,” she says, laughing. “And I’m very obsessive. For instance, I love to do housework! When I have time to do a deep clean, it makes me very happy. Because of the nature of what I do, it’s all in the detail. So, I love to walk because it’s taught me how to compartmentalise and not allow stress to filter into everything that I do during the day. Now, I just go, ‘Okay, put that into your walk time and think about it then.”
Poh’s two adorable Scottish terriers, Rhino and Tim, love joining her on her strolls, especially in the park. “There’s a creek with lots of birds and I love watching the dogs run around,” she says. “It’s such a small thing that you do for them every day and they just love it, and it means the world to them. It’s a simple life, but it makes them happy and we can learn so much from that.”
Basic Instincts
View this post on Instagram
Poh has just finished her latest book, What I Cook When Nobody’s Watching. “It’s a book of recipes that I cook often for myself, because I’m cooking solo now,” she says, smiling. “I debunk all the snobbery you find in food and cooking, like, just use the stock powder – it gets the job done, and sometimes that’s good enough.” And she’s adamant she’s not one to present that unrealistic view of how a professional cook eats. “I’m a very peasant-style eater; that’s how I was brought up. A small piece of fried fish with rice and chilli sauce, very basic. That’s my favourite.”
Poh will also be picking up the brushes again in 2023. “Painting is going to be a very big deal for me next year,” says Poh. “I’ve done so much travelling this year that I’m looking forward to having a bit more of a steady year next year; to spend more time with family and be in my studio a lot more. It’s definitely in the business plan.”
Newsletter
