She finished second in the first season of MasterChef Australia and went on to become a judge on the popular reality cooking show.
And Poh Ling Yeow, 50, has revealed she didn’t go home empty-handed during her time as a contestant on Network Ten’s cooking giant.
Poh shared two photos on Instagram on Tuesday in which she holds the classic cookbook French Provincial Cooking.
At first glance it seemed innocent, but the second photo clearly showed a sticker on the inside cover of the book that read ‘MasterChef Lounge’.
Poh admitted in the photos that he had been given the book by the MasterChef studio as a consolation prize after Julie Goodwin won the top prize in the first season of the reality show.
“I may have stolen this from season 1 and given it to myself as a little gift for coming in second place because they gave @_juliegoodwin all the attention,” Poh captioned the photo.
Poh admitted it took her 15 years to read the book, and she said it may not have been the only item in her illegal haul.
‘It took me 15 years to start reading it, but I’m very happy I made a good choice. The book “French” by @damien_pignolet could also have been obtained in the same robbery, but it’s hard to say.’
Poh Ling Yeow has admitted she STOLE from the set of MasterChef Australia when she took part in the show in season one
Poh shared two photos on Instagram on Tuesday in which she holds the classic cookbook French Provincial Cooking.
It seems Poh wasn’t the only cast member with a light hand. Fellow MasterChef member Rose Adam also admitted to stealing a book or two.
“I may have stolen a book or two. Sorry @carla.siciliano,” she wrote, apologizing to EndemolShine production manager Carla Siciliano.
Poh responded to the comment with: ‘ @rose_adam_cooks @carla.siciliano did I start a confession thread here?!!’
Season three contestant Billy Law also admitted, “I stole more than one! Because… YOLO… (cue snoop Dogg).”
Sue Bazley, who competed on the 2024 edition of MasterChef, also weighed in: ‘That’s why we got frisked every day this season when we left the green room!’
Poh was recently a guest on The Project and spoke about the ‘tough love’ she gives to the show’s contestants.
Panelist Kate Langbroek asked the judges what they do during the longer challenges.
Poh said they often keep an eye on the contestants, which often feels like the judges are ‘running against them’.
“We do this to make them realise that they are doing something very wrong,” Poh claimed.
The public becomes very protective [over the contestants] and don’t realize that we have to work within certain boundaries if we want to give them advice.’
Poh admitted it took her 15 years to read the book, adding that it may not have been the only item in her illicit haul.