Poh Ling Yeow, MasterChef Australia judge, speaks out on toxic marriage trait and shares insight gained from two divorces on relationships

Poh Ling Yeow has lifted the lid on her rocky love life, and how divorce has changed beliefs about marriage. 

The MasterChef Australia judge, 50, was married to Matt Phipps between 1989 and 199, before marrying Jonathan ‘Jono’ Bennett in 2009 and splitting from him in early 2021. 

Speaking to Stellar magazine over the weekend, the popular chef said she’s on good terms with both her ex-husbands and remains optimistic about finding love again. 

‘We kept all the good bits and threw away all the bad bits,’ she said of her former spouses. 

‘And there’s something about having gone through the ugliest of things with someone… If you are willing to do some emotional excavating, it can be repaired to again be unbreakable.’

MasterChef Australia Judge Poh Ling Yeow, 50, (pictured) has lifted the lid on her rocky love life, and how divorce has changed beliefs about marriage

Despite this, Poh said she no longer feels marriage is necessary and isn’t sure she wants to live with a partner ever again.

‘I think it’s very sensible to maintain a sense of individuality because so much of what is toxic about relationships is that merging, [which is] often what we think is the right thing to do.’

‘We’re now in 2024; I feel like we can explore other models.’

The MasterChef Australia judge, 50, was married to Matt Phipps between 1989 and 199, before marrying Jonathan ‘Jono’ Bennett in 2009 and splitting from him in early 2021. (Poh and Jono are pictured in December 2016)

Elsewhere in the interview, Poh admitted that her attempts at finding romance on celebrity dating app Raya and Tinder have proven futile. 

It comes after Poh brushed off the public fascination with her ‘love square’ business arrangement as nowhere near as ‘salacious’ as people might think.

Poh previously ran the Jamface café in Adelaide with her two ex-husbands, as well as Matt’s new wife – and Poh’s best friend – Sarah Rich. Jono has since left the business.

While this partnership may seem unusual to some, Poh said their unique dynamic was ‘no big deal’.

She told Stellar magazine this weekend: ‘I think it’s very sensible to maintain a sense of individuality because so much of what is toxic about relationships is that merging, [which is] often what we think is the right thing to do.’ (Pictured: Matt Phipps and his new wife Sarah Rich) 

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia last year, Poh said: ‘I think everyone wants to paint this really salacious picture but we just transitioned into it [being friends and business partners] with such ease that to us it’s just no big deal,’ she said, referring to the public interest in the unorthodox partnership.

‘We all run [Jamface café] together, so we’re equal partners. It’s just how the cookie crumbled. We don’t really think anything weirdly, because it’s what happened to us. 

‘I think everyone wants to think there is this love triangle. There is no love triangle, believe me!’

Poh said she no longer feels marriage is necessary and isn’t sure she wants to live with a partner ever again 

Back in 2018, Jono admitted that Poh and ex-husband Matt’s close friendship was something that made him feel jealous early in his marriage to the chef.  

‘It was something we all had to work on essentially,’ Jono told Woman’s Day. 

‘I know it’s very human to be jealous, but it doesn’t make it right. There’s a lot of history [between Poh and Matt], so it’s not something that can be taken away. It’s not something that should be.’