Poh Ling Yeow dishes up on new MasterChef season
As the new sizzling season of MasterChef Australia launches Monday, contestant turned judge Poh Ling Yeow dishes up all the inside information — including how it was to work with superstar chef Gordon Ramsay.
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MasterChef judge Poh Ling Yeow has described working with superstar chef Gordon Ramsay as like being in a hurricane.
Ramsay is a guest chef in the MasterChef kitchen overseeing a service challenge as the hit show launches its new season on Channel 10 on Monday night.
“He was racing around the room like a hurricane,” Yeow said.
“I was scared. He ran that thing like a real kitchen. I just wanted to stay out of his way, he was in the zone, he means business.”
The last time Yeow encountered the “formidable” Ramsay, she was a contestant on the 2020 Back To Win season of MasterChef and he was putting the contestants through their paces as a guest chef and judge.
Yeow joined MasterChef last season as a judge and continues in the role alongside Andy Allen, Sofia Levin and Jean-Christophe Novelli this year.
Having previously been a contestant twice – in 2009 and 2020 – being a judge took some adjustment.
“It (the role) is definitely easier this year,” she said.
“I think it started off harder in my head because I felt very awkward having to judge or guide the return contestants because they are all so incredibly talented. The level of the food this year is outrageous.”
Now in its 17th season, Yeow said one of the keys to MasterChef Australia’s success locally and internationally was its diversity.
“It is definitely multiculturalism and the fact that we have such a long season; people really dive in and get lost in it,” she said.
“There is also an interesting mix of ages and experiences (among the contestants), from people who are young and are following a dream to people who have had careers, or their family has grown up, and now they are ready for change and do something for themselves.
“It is so diverse on so many layers.”
MasterChef Australia: Back to Win premieres Monday, April 28 on Channel 10.
Originally published as Poh Ling Yeow dishes up on new MasterChef season
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