While MasterChef Australia judge Poh Ling Yeow didn’t walk away with gold on Sunday night (Lynne McGranger won), it’s important to remember that if she had won, she would’ve become the first woman of colour to win the coveted top gong at Australian TV’s night of nights.
“It would be monumental,” Poh told Missing Perspectives on the TV Week Logie Awards red carpet, just before the ceremony kicked off at The Star in Sydney.
“And you know what, I was a little bit like, I didn’t want to get on a soapbox for this occasion, but just in my last post, I’m like, ‘Make me the first woman of colour to hold gold,” she laughed.
Poh shot to fame in 2009 when she finished as runner-up behind Julie Goodwin on Season 1 of MasterChef Australia. Since then, she’s forged a successful career in food and entertainment. As of last year, she’s also been a judge on the cooking show alongside Sofia Levin, Andy Allen and Jean-Christophe Novelli.
In its over 60-year history, only one person of colour has ever nabbed the Gold Logie: The Project’s Waleed Aly. It’s a pretty dire figure to comprehend when Australia’s 2021 Census data shows that almost half of us have at least one parent born overseas (48.2%), and almost a quarter of us (24.8%) speak a language other than English at home.
When accepting the Gold Logie in 2016, Waleed spoke about the need for more cultural diversity and representation on Aussie TV.
“Someone who is in this room — and I’m not going to use the name they use in the industry — came up to me, introduced themselves and said, ‘I really hope you win. My name is Mustafa. But I can’t use that name because I won’t get a job,'” Waleed said on stage at the time.
“He’s here tonight. And it matters to people like that that I am here. I know it’s not because of me. I know that. But if tonight means anything, it’s that the Australian public, our audience, as far as they’re concerned, there is absolutely no reason why that can’t change.”
Speaking to Missing Perspectives on the 2025 Logies red carpet, TV presenter Marc Fennell reflected on that historic moment, adding it would be “special” to see Poh similarly come out on top in the Gold Logies race.
“It would lovely to be in the room for history to be made,” said Marc. “I was in the room when Waleed won, and it felt different, it felt special. So it would be really amazing to have Poh win for that reason.”
Nominated alongside Poh for the Gold this year were A Current Affair’s Ally Langdon, I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! host Julia Morris, ABC presenter Lisa Millar, The Voice Australia host Sonia Kruger and LEGO Masters Australia’s Hamish Blake. The fact that six of the seven nominees were women, calls for celebration in itself. Ultimately, Lynne McGranger claimed victory after playing fan favourite character, Irene Roberts on Home and Away.
“I want to acknowledge all the other nominees, all the beautiful, fierce women of all ages,” Lynne said in her acceptance speech. “And I am the eldest! If you live as long as I do, it’s fantastic. And of course, lovely Hamish. You are a brave man, darl, thank you.”
No doubt, Lynne’s incredible contributions and legacy in Australian television deserve to be celebrated – and a Gold Logie only seems fitting and particularly special, given she filmed her final Home and Away scenes in March 2025.
And while Poh didn’t get the most votes this year, I’m certain that her nomination still meant so much to many women of colour across Australia – just as much as it did to me. When I reflect on this sentiment, I also I think back to what former MasterChef winner Nat Thaipun recently told me. She said: “I think we’re seeing progress, finally — and it’s beautiful, but it’s also overdue. Seeing people like Poh — who’s paved the way for so many of us — getting the flowers she deserves is powerful.
“But we need to keep pushing,” she said. “Representation can’t just be visual — it has to exist in the stories being told, the people making decisions behind the scenes, the way we’re allowed to take up space. I’m proud to be part of that shift, but I also know we’re only just getting started. The stories from our communities are rich, complex, and deserve the spotlight.”
Top photo – Pictured: Poh Ling Yeow, Source: Missing Perspectives
