Taking to her Instagram account, cooking show judge Poh Ling Yeow reflected on the lessons she’s learnt from grief, including the importance of living “life exactly how you want” and communicating openly about love with those nearest and dearest to you.
Poh shared a series of photos of her parents pre, during and then days after their wedding. She also posted a snap of her dad and dog. She wrote about how much she and her father miss her mum, who passed away in November 2022 after having cancer.
“Dad is obsessed with Tim and insisted on snapping some pics of us as we were leaving tonight,” she began her caption. “He was taking ages to find the right angle and I had to ask what the deal was. He replied ‘I just want mum in the background’.
“I think one of the most profound things about the hollow left behind by someone you love….they can become spaces where calcified relationship dynamics can catch new breathe and be reimagined,” she continued.
Poh explained that it was only after her mothers death that she saw the more “tender side” of her father. “I’m certain that very few things will break my heart more than visiting the cemetary [sic] the Christmas after mum died and watching dad gently pat the lawn that she’s buried under, saying quietly “‘Merry Christmas Mee Yoke. I love you’.”
Perhaps more than anything else, Poh ultimately wanted her followers to know that “even in the deepest sorrow you have to find the silver linings”.
“This is how loss turns to courage, how our skins become thick, making room for wisdom to arrive,” she wrote.
“My Uncle Victor Chin (Mum’s cousin who she adored), is the person who captured these gorgeois [sic] moments so creatively. He passed away a week before Mum and was a renowned Malaysian artist. I remember watching her weep for him, none of us realising she would be joining him days later.
“The time is now peeps! Live life exactly how you want. Dare to feel madly, deeply and tell the people you adore ‘I love u’ more often.”
Poh’s touching post was met with many emotional reactions from fans, as well as MasterChef contestants plus fellow judge, Sofia Levin.
“Grief both thickens your skin and cracks you wide open. I love you Poh Poh xx,” wrote Sofia.
Sav Perera, who was recently eliminated from this year’s MasterChef Australia: Back To Win season, opened up about how much she related to Poh and her father.
“When my dad visited Adelaide a year after mum passed, we had a beautiful meal that I cooked and I made one of her recipes for the very first time (from pure memory),” penned Sav. “Later that night I remember my dad very quietly saying ‘I miss having someone to talk to’. He is an incredibly stoic man who never really shows emotion so I actually didn’t know how to respond to him.”
Another contestant from the 2025 season, Audra Morrice, also shared her personal story.
“So much truth Poh. My mom went through the same thing when my dad passed away,” said Audra. “She often reminisces about dad with this expression of fondness, melts my heart. I reckon my father would’ve gone soon after mom if the tables were reversed as he relied on her so much.”
Last year, Poh joined MasterChef alongside fellow first-time MasterChef Australia judges, Sofia Levin and Jean-Christophe Novelli, as well as Andy Allen who’s been a judge since 2020. The new panel came after previous judge Jock Zonfrillo’s death in 2023, and Melissa Leong’s departure to focus on the MasterChef: Dessert Masters spin-off and other creative projects.
At the time, Poh opened up about her style choices on MasterChef, telling Missing Perspectives that fashion was a way she also connected with her late mum.
“It’s actually the thing that has made me miss my mum so much more because mum loved fashion,” she told us. “Every day I wish I could send her a text and show her what I was wearing because she would just love it so much.”
MasterChef Australia: Back to Win returns on Sunday at 7pm on Channel 10 and 10 Play.
Top photo source: Channel 10
