Poh Ling Yeow Husband, Children, Cancer, Parents, Family, Partner, Married, Wiki, Age, Heritage
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Poh Ling Yeow Biography – Poh Ling Yeow Wiki
Poh Ling Yeow is a Malaysian-Australian chef, painter, author and TV presenter. She rose to fame after finishing as runner-up on the first season of MasterChef Australia in 2009. She returned to the cooking show in 2020 and placed sixth in its all-stars season called ‘MasterChef Australia: Back To Win’.
The Malaysian-born chef graduated from Seymour College and began a Bachelor of Design degree at the University of South Australia. She became an artist and worked as a graphic designer and illustrator, then turned her talents to makeup artistry.
She became a full-time artist in 2002 working mainly with acrylic paint on canvas. Her painting explores notions of belonging and origin and reconciling her Asian heritage with her Western identity. Poh has participated in 28 exhibitions, 20 of which have been solos. She appears in many corporate and private collections in Australia and abroad.
In 2009 Poh came second runner-up to Julie Goodwin in the first season of MasterChef Australia. The following year, she was offered her own cooking show, Poh’s Kitchen on ABC television. More television and cookbooks followed. She also filmed the series Poh & Co for SBS which celebrates Poh’s love of food, family and friends.
Poh Ling Yeow Age
She was born on 17 December 1973 in Ampang, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Poh Ling Yeow Husband
Poh Ling Yeow has had two marriages. She married her first husband, Matt Phipps, in 1990 and divorced in 1999 after nine years of marriage. She met her first husband, Matt, in the Mormon church. After meeting at church, the pair decided to exit the church before getting married. In a 2017 interview with Mamamia’s I Don’t Know How She Does It podcast, Poh revealed her ex-husband moved on with her best friend after their marriage fell apart. Matt went on to marry Poh’s best friend, Sarah Rich.
“He’s my ex-husband. She’s my best friend. And when we broke up, they got together and it’s all dandy. It’s actually really good,” she said.
“Everyone tries to complicate it for us. From the outside in, they’re all like ‘love triangle’! And I’m like, ‘no!’ He’s like my brother now and I think … people are never interested in the backstory. They want everything to be sordid.”
After her split with Matt, Poh went on to marry aspiring actor Jonathan Bennett. Poh met her second husband, Jonathan Bennett, on the set of the first season of MasterChef in 2009, where Jono was working as a production assistant. The couple started dating not long after the show ended and went on to marry in 2014. Poh and Jono divorced in early 2021 after six years of marriage.
The celebrity chef has remained close to both of her ex-husbands, Jonathan Bennett and Matt Phipps. Poh, Phipps and Rich together run Jamface, the baked goods stall at the Adelaide Showgrounds Farmers Market.
Poh Ling Yeow Parents
MasterChef Australia star Poh Ling Yeow is the daughter of Steven and Christina Yeow. Poh’s parents are originally from Malaysia. They moved their two children to Australia for a better education. Her mother, Christina Yeow, passed away in November 2022.
Poh Ling Yeow Family
Poh Ling Yeow was born into a fifth-generation Malaysian Chinese family. She has an older brother, Casper, a brilliant artist. Her Aunty Kim, a faithful Buddhist, moved to Australia when Yeow and her older brother were young, and she still lives in the family home with Poh’s father. Christina learned how to cook thanks to Poh’s paternal grandmother.
Poh Ling Yeow Child
In an interview with ABC’s Australian Story, Poh Ling Yeow revealed she and her ex-husband Jonathan Bennett were expecting a baby together but sadly lost the child at 12 weeks after suffering a miscarriage.
“It was the day I was allowed to tell everyone,” she said on Australian Story. “It was really heartbreaking and I actually went through full labour at home and I saw the baby.
“I’m bringing this up because I think it’s something people should talk about, and it’s this silent grief that women have to go through all the time.
“I really like to confront my emotions upfront. I think it’s really healthy, I don’t like to bury anything. It was probably one of the most horrendous things I’d ever been through.”
Poh Ling Yeow Children
MasterChef judge Poh Ling Yeow doesn’t have children despite pressure from friends and family to have kids.
Poh Ling Yeow MasterChef
Poh has been part of the MasterChef family from the start. She was the runner-up of MasterChef Australia’s debut season. She returned to the show in 2020 and placed sixth in its all-stars season called ‘MasterChef Australia: Back To Win’.
In 2023, Poh was announced as one of three new judges on MasterChef Australia alongside food critic and journalist Sofia Levin, and multi–Michelin Star award-winning chef, Jean-Christophe Novelli. The three new judges will be joining Australian cook and food critic Andy Allen, who has been judging since 2020 and was a Season 4 winner.
Poh said: “Talk about a thrilling, full circle moment. MasterChef Australia is where my food story began, so this feels like coming home. A big part of me will always be standing on the other side with the contestants and I hope when they look to me, they see proof you don’t have to win to win.”
Poh Ling Yeow Net Worth
Poh Ling Yeow has an estimated net worth of $5 million. She has acquired the wealth from her illustrious career as an artist, TV presenter and cookbook author. She is known to ask for a generous appearance fee.
In 2020, Poh reportedly used her celebrity status to negotiate a big salary for MasterChef: Back to Win. The former contestants were supposedly able to negotiate deals worth tens of thousands of dollars each. The biggest payday was reserved for celebrity guest judge Katy Perry, who secured an estimated $100,000 for her appearance.
Poh Ling Yeow Cancer
Poh Ling Yeow doesn’t have cancer. In the 2009 premiere season of MasterChef Australia, Poh debuted a sleek new bob haircut. MasterChef viewers, who are used to seeing Poh with her long black hair tied back in a slick ponytail, started wondering if Poh is wearing a wig.
Some viewers even speculated that Poh might be going through chemotherapy or radiation treatment for cancer, possibly wearing the wig to conceal hair loss. It turned out the hair was not a wig, but a regular bob.
Poh Ling Yeow Religion
Poh Ling Yeow was a member of the Mormon church. She and her mother joined the church when she was a teenager before the cook left the church at age 25.
“When I was 16, our family went through some issues with our [newsagency] business. We were feeling quite vulnerable and some missionaries came knocking from the Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints and Mum and I converted to Mormonism,” Yeow said.
“Because of that feeling of always being on the outer, it felt very nice to belong some place that always felt safe and welcoming.”
After finishing school, she travelled to Utah and then Canada. It was in Canada, where she met a cross section of people she had previously not encountered – a good friend was trans – that she started to question whether she would be able to go back to the church.
Returning to Australia after her months-long travels, she met her first husband Matt Phipps at church but before the two married, they were both questioning the organisation’s doctrine and decided to leave the church before tying the knot.
“The first time in my life, I felt completely free,” Poh recalled of the moment she stepped away from Mormonism.
Speaking about her family’s religious background, Poh Ling Yeow told Body+Soul: “Growing up, we were cultural Buddhists, but we weren’t schooled in religion. Then, when I was a teenager, we converted to Mormonism. I left the Mormon church when I was 25, but my family still goes.”
Poh Ling Yeow Nationality
She is of Australian nationality.
Poh Ling Yeow Heritage
Poh is of Asian heritage. She is a fifth-generation Malaysian-born Chinese from Kuala Lumpur.
Poh Ling Yeow’s Instagram handle is pohlingyeow.
