Shock as MasterChef hopeful Poh Ling Yeow quits TV in favour of a quieter life

She may be a MasterChef favourite, but Poh Ling Yeow can’t wait to return to her old life, away from the TV cameras.

In an interview with TV WEEK on Monday, the 47-year-old artist and chef admitted her experience on this year’s MasterChef Australia: Back To Win hadn’t been as enjoyable as she’d hoped.  

‘I don’t like living in a goldfish bowl,’ she told the magazine, hinting she was ready to quit her life in the limelight. 

‘When I finish this season of MasterChef, I’m going to get right back into my painting and only do things that bring me joy.’

While Poh has proven to be a talented cook, landing herself in the show’s top eight, she often struggles with the tight deadlines and has come under fire from fans. 

‘I’d want to be in the driver’s seat. I think the next stage for me is producing my own content on my own terms,’ she added.

After closing her Adelaide cafe, Jamface in October last year, Poh said she returned to MasterChef hoping to ‘reignite my passion for cooking’.

But it seems that hasn’t been the case, and in an interview with The Project in April, she called the experience ‘horrible’.

‘It was really hard. I forgot how horrible it was to run around and get your equipment. That’s the thing – it’s so stressful,’ she said of returning to the series after 11 years.

And she confessed that although she’d been through the experience previously, she was no wiser coming back into the competition. 

‘Nothing’s changed. I really thought that 10 years of experience was going to make me calmer and more methodical, but I am just as chaotic and nutty in there!’ she added. 

Poh first appeared on MasterChef back in 2009, and came runner-up behind Julie Goodwin, before appearing as a mentor on last year’s season.