She was runner-up on the inaugural season of MasterChef Australia before going on to become a judge on the hit reality cooking show.
And Poh Ying Leow, 50, has revealed she didn’t walk away totally empty-handed during her time as a contestant on the Network Ten cooking juggernaut.
Taking to Instagram on Tuesday, Poh shared two images of her holding the classic cookbook French Provincial Cooking.
Innocuous enough at first glance, the second photo clearly showed a sticker on the inside cover of the book emblazoned with ‘MasterChef Lounge.’
Captioning the images, Poh admitted to taking the book from the MasterChef studio as a consolation prize after Julie Goodwin took out the top honour in season one of the reality show.
‘I may have nicked this in Season 1 and gifted it to myself as a lil 2nd runner up pressie because they gave @_juliegoodwin all the kesh,’ Poh captioned the photo.
Poh went on to admit it had taken her 15 years to get around to reading the book, adding that it may not have been the only item in her illegal haul.
‘It’s taken me 15 years to start reading it but I’m very pleased I chose well. @damien_pignolet’s “French” might also have been acquired in the same heist, but it’s hard to say.’
Poh Ling Yeow has admitted to STEALING from the set of MasterChef Australia when she was a contestant on the show in season one
Taking to Instagram on Tuesday, Poh shared two images of her holding the classic cookbook French Provincial Cooking
It appears that Poh was not the only cast member with light fingers, with fellow MasterChef alum Rose Adam also admitting to pilfering a book or two.
‘Maybe I pilfered a book or two. Sorry @carla.siciliano,’ she wrote, apologising to EndemolShine production manager Carla Siciliano.
Poh responded to the comment with: ‘ @rose_adam_cooks @carla.siciliano have I started a confession thread here?!!’
Season three contestant Billy Law also owned up, commenting: ‘I nicked more than one! Cuz…. YOLO….(cue snoop Dogg).’
Sue Bazley, who appeared on the 2024 iteration of MasterChef, also chimed in with: ‘So that’s why they frisked us this season as we left the green room each day!’
Appearing on The Project recently, Poh shed some light on the ‘tough love’ she doles out to contestants on the show.
Panellist Kate Langbroek asked the judges what they get up to during the longer challenges.
Poh said they are often checking in on contestants, which often looks like the judge’s are ‘antagonising them’.
‘We’re doing it to try and get them to realise they’re doing something very wrong,’ Poh claimed.
‘The audience gets very protective [over the contestants] and don’t realise that we have to work within parameters when we’re trying to give them advice,’ she added.
Poh went on to admit it had taken her 15 years to get around to reading the book, adding that it may not have been the only item in her illegal haul
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk