MasterChef’s Poh Ling Yeow says she’s always been ‘obsessed with being famous’

She’s been accused by viewers of receiving more airtime than other contestants on MasterChef Australia: Back To Win this year. 

But it seems Poh Ling Yeow has been studying how to steal the spotlight her entire life. 

Speaking to Freedom Hunters with Suzanne Delahunty, the 47-year-old celebrity chef admitted she was obsessed with being famous from a young age.  

‘I fantasised a lot about being some kind of entertainer. There was a lot of singing into hair brushes and doing accents to myself,’ she said of her formative years. 

When it came to looking for audition scripts, Poh said she sought out ‘anything she could get her hands on’ in the hopes of landing her first big role.   

Poh went on to reveal that she once tried to become a makeup artist to the stars, so that she could be in close proximity to celebrities.  

‘I really liked to dream, and being close to people in these kinds of fields made me feel that something magical was possible for me,’ she confessed.  

A woman of many talents, Poh also tried to pursue a career as an author, but soon realised that without a famous face she was unlikely to sell books. 

‘I thought, “No one’s going to want to buy a book from a nobody. No one’s going to publish a book by a nobody. So I should just get my dial on TV for like, five minutes. Drive it from there”,’ she confessed. 

However, despite her life-long passion for popularity, Poh insisted that aspiring chefs shouldn’t aim to achieve fame as their ultimate career goal.  

‘I fee like it’s dangerous to just go for the thing at the end, which I feel is just a side effect,’ Poh said of pursuing fame.  

‘Often people go for the fame, which is a side effect. It shouldn’t be the thing you do it for because you will always get lost,’ she added.