MasterChef's Poh Ling Yeow opens up on 'difficult personal time'

MasterChef's Poh Ling Yeow may be known for her cooking, but the 49-year-old has always been an artist, with the reality star sharing the emotional inspiration behind the art she is displaying at the Illuminate Adelaide festival during an interview with The Project on Wednesday night.

The reality star revealed to the hosts that after her mother Christina's passing last year, she channels her grief into her art.

"I felt so honoured because it feels incredible to be trusted with a huge canvas that is going to be seen by so many people," she shared. "It came at a difficult personal time for me because it was very close to when my mum had just passed away.

"When I was invited to be part of [Illuminate Adelaide], I received it with such a sigh of relief because I knew I could channel my grief into making something beautiful."

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Panelist Maria Thattil said it must have been amazing for Poh to immerse herself back in the art world, with the artist responding, "I've done a lot of healing in front of the canvas."

She added, "It allows me to see nearly everything as beautiful, because I guess it's like where I can be still and it just gives me time to sort of process and sit in things properly."

Host Sarah Harris asked whether Christina's spirit will be woven through Poh's work, to which she responded, "Yeah, it really is. I'm actually using the buildings to kind of tell our story. There's a piece that's ... completely dedicated to my grief for mum. But I think it comes in a really beautiful form.

"And I love the fact that families are going to be seeing this and children are going to be exposed to it because it allows that conversation to happen. And there's also another one that talks of our migration and then another piece that is kind of about me growing up and feeling different. So it's been really beautiful to thread that story together through through these installations that I'm designing."

"Poor woman," one user wrote on Instagram. "Her grief must have been overwhelming."

It comes after fans praised the MasterChef star after she returned to the show this season.

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Viewers took to social media throughout the episode to praise Poh’s return, with one person calling her “divine”.

“I could watch Poh on my TV every night. What a delight she is,” another added, while a third wrote, “I just love Poh so much. She should be in every episode”.

“Poh looks delightful tonight! So glad she’s back on my telly,” someone else said, followed by a different user who agreed, “It was great to have Poh back on our screens”.

Meanwhile, plenty of people shared their hope that Poh becomes a permanent fixture on the cooking show.

“Poh would be a great judge,” one fan tweeted, with another writing, “I really wish Poh was a judge too”.

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