Late last year and with a new season of MasterChef Australia set to start filming, Poh Ling Yeow says she was feeling poised and ready to take on her second season of judging when producers threw a spanner in the works.
“I think after the first season, I was like, ‘OK, I’m raring to go. I’ve got a little bit of confidence in this now.’ And then, with it being Back to Win, I felt all weird about it again, because it’s all my mates,” she says with a laugh when WHO catches up with the star.
Having been runner-up in the inaugural season some 16 years ago, plus having her own second punt at the MasterChef crown back in 2020, Yeow has crossed paths with many of the contestants competing in this year’s Back to Win season before. And while it felt a little unnerving being on the other side, the 51-year-old was able to find a silver lining.
“One of the things I’ve loved about it is to actually be able to see how they cook,” she explains. “Obviously, I’ve always been beside them as competitors – and you’re just very busy, you’re in full adrenaline rush, panic-mode when you’re in the challenges – so it’s been a real eye-opener to see why they’ve been so successful.
“They’ve been so gracious as well. So that’s a very big part of me feeling comfortable with it,” she adds. “I have so much respect for them to come back with such established careers and put themselves in such a position of vulnerability again.”
As far as the judges go, though, Yeow couldn’t wait to be reunited with Andy Allen, Sofia Levin and Jean-Christophe Novelli for the latest season. “I adore them all,” she gushes. “I couldn’t imagine having a better bunch of people to work with.”
Having been in the contestants’ shoes twice before, Yeow knows all too well the challenges and chaos that come with being on the show. “You can know something like the back of your hand – a process or a dish that you’ve cooked your whole life. And having to run around for your pots and your ingredients can just throw your brain off so much,” she explains.
“I feel like that’s my main superpower as one of the judges: being able to empathise and understand,” Yeow adds. “I can really sense what’s happening in their brains.”
While you’d think her time as a contestant and now as a judge would feel worlds apart, Yeow says she doesn’t think she’s “changed at all” – despite her success and fame since bursting onto our screens. When she’s not filming, she admits she’s doing “the usual nana stuff that I love”. “I’m a real true-blue homebody,” she says with a laugh. “I love pottering around, gardening and spending time with my Auntie Kim and Dad. Since Mum passed away, that is a big priority for me. Life has become focused on family.”
And although it might sound like a simple life for a glamorous celebrity cook, it’s a life Yeow reveals she is perfectly pleased with. “I’m at an age now – I’m 52 this year and I’m so contented with life. I’m really, really happy,” she concludes. “I feel like if I just kept scooting along like this and nothing much else happened, I’d be so contented just to sort of paint and garden and cook and spend time with my family.”
(MasterChef Australia S17 premieres Mon., Apr. 28 at 7.30pm on Network 10)
