From Husbands to Friends, Poh Ling Yeow Has Mastered Breakups

Jun 8, 2025

Poh Ling Yeow, an artist, chef, and familiar face from MasterChef Australia, shares her journey through heartbreak and self-discovery. She candidly discusses her departure from the church, grappling with the loss of her mother, and the emotional toll of two divorces. Poh reflects on finding beauty in sorrow and humor in unexpected moments. The conversation flows into navigating fame, personal growth, and maintaining supportive bonds with ex-partners, all while embracing life's complexities and the art of moving forward.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Books

Transcript

Episode notes

ANECDOTE

Decisive Divorce Initiation

Poh Ling Yeow once initiated her divorce by immediately getting a divorce kit and serving it to her husband.
This moment marked a decisive break from a dysfunctional marriage and a step toward rebuilding her life.

INSIGHT

Alien with Resilience and Humor

Poh feels like an alien trying to find where she fits, yet she's found light and humor in sorrow and mess.
This resilience shaped her identity beyond her public chef and artist persona.

ADVICE

Congee for Hangovers

When hungover, Poh Ling Yeow advises eating congee because it's warm, soothing, and packed with ginger.
Pair congee with pickles for a comforting and restorative meal.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

You might know Poh Ling Yeow as an artist, a chef and a regular fixture on television ever since she was first introduced to Australia on MasterChef. But that’s just the public side of Poh.

The version you see is only part of her truth; behind it lies a layered, often painful journey.

In this conversation Poh opens up about her years spent in the church before walking away from it, which left her untangling years of belief and identity.

She shares the profound grief she has experienced with the loss of her mother, and as well as the heartbreak of two marriage breakdowns and how those moments led to loneliness, questioning and rebuilding.

But through it all, she’s discovered something quite extraordinary: an ability to find beauty in the sorrow, light in the mess, and humour in the most unexpected places.

This is a conversation about identity, resilience, creativity, and what it means to truly move on and start over.

You can watch Poh on this season of MasterChef on Network 10 and you can follow her here:

https://www.instagram.com/pohlingyeow/?hl=en

THE END BITS:

Listen to more No Filter interviews here and follow us on Instagram here.

Discover more Mamamia podcasts here.

Feedback: podcast@mamamia.com.au

Share your story, feedback, or dilemma! Send us a voice message, and one of our Podcast Producers will get back to you ASAP.

Rate or review us on Apple by clicking on the three dots in the top right-hand corner, click Go To Show then scroll down to the bottom of the page, click on the stars at the bottom and write a review

CREDITS:

Guests: Poh Ling Yeow

Host: Kate Langbroek

Executive Producer: Naima Brown

Senior Producer: Grace Rouvray

Audio Producer: Jacob Round

Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.

Become a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribe

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.