When it comes to life, love, and relationships, Poh Ling Yeow has a more progressive approach than most, especially concerning her friendships with her former husbands.
Shooting to fame on the inaugural season of MasterChef Australia, she faced off against eventual winner Julie Goodwin in the finale. Since then, Poh has gone on to become a beloved celebrity chef and television personality in Australia.
From hosting several cooking shows on the likes of ABC and SBS to returning as a contestant, mentor, and judge on MasterChef, to publishing bestselling cookbooks and opening her own gourmet food stall, Poh has certainly kept herself busy these past 16 years!
While her professional success is intriguing, fans have long been fascinated with her personal life and love life.
Read more about Poh’s relationship history below.
Why did Poh and her husband split?
Poh Ling Yeow married her first husband, Matt Phipps in 1989 when she was just 16 years old. At the time, the pair were both practising Mormons.
Sadly, after nine years together, the young couple decided to divorce, citing the pressure to become parents as a huge factor behind the split.
In an interview with Will and Woody on KIIS Network’s Share My Mood podcast in May 2024, the culinary queen said her divorce from Matt allowed the pair to “throw all the bad things in the bin and keep all the good things.”
“It was getting really unhealthy because I was getting so lost in the dysfunction that I didn’t recognise myself anymore, and I was just reacting all the time. I [was] getting lost in [the] bitterness,” she said.
“We loved each other’s company, we were great friends, but as a marriage, it just didn’t work out. [But] he’s still my ride or die.”
In a 2022 interview on the podcast I Don’t Know How She Does It, Poh also revealed that while the break-up was “on really good terms,” it was still “difficult” and “horrible.”
“No matter what, even now, I still have a little cry over it and it’s not because I wish we were still together or anything…but there’s something about two humans wanting to murder each other like that, that is so sad,” she said.
“When you torment each other, destroy each other. It’s still really sad.”
Who is Poh’s ex-husband and best friend?
Both Poh and Matt eventually moved on, but curiously, Matt chose to move on with her best friend, Sarah Rich, whom he eventually married.
Even more curious is that Poh is still really close with them both – talk about progressive!
“He’s my ex-husband. She’s my best friend. And when we broke up, they got together, and it’s all dandy. It’s actually really good,” the MasterChef judge revealed on the podcast.
“Everyone tries to complicate it for us…from the outside in, they’re all like ‘love triangle!’ and I’m like ‘no!’ He’s like my brother now and I think…people are never interested in the backstory. They want everything to be sordid.”
Are Poh and Jono still together?
After her split with Matt, Poh went on to marry aspiring actor Jono, whom she met on the first season of MasterChef, where Jono was working as a production assistant.
“We weren’t really allowed to talk because that’s part of the rules. You can’t fraternise with the staff because I guess they can tell you secrets (about the next challenge) or something,” she has previously explained.
“I think it got a little more charged because we weren’t allowed to talk to each other. It was like the playground … cute looks across the yard, sort of thing. Then, after the show, we hooked up. There was a wrap part,y and we exchanged numbers straight away, and it was all guns after that.”
Speaking with our sister publication Woman’s Day during the course of their relationship (which ended in divorce in 2021), Jonathan admitted to feeling jealous and insecure that Poh was still close with her ex-husband and his new wife.
“It’s something we all had to work on, essentially. 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,” he said.
Much like her relationship with her first ex-husband, Poh Ling Yeow shares a strong friendship with her second ex-husband.
“Jono and I broke up…but [we] still work together and are the best of friends,” she confirmed to The Weekend Australian shortly after news of the split became public.
“It’s been the most un-traumatic breakup possible, and I’m single again after 12 years,” she revealed at the time. “I’m enjoying negotiating life on my own, enjoying the feeling of being a lone ranger…”
“I work with husband numbers one and two. Life is stranger than fiction.”
Is Poh Ling Yeow in a relationship?
As of 2025, it seems like Poh is currently single, or at least keeping her personal life out of the public eye.
In an interview with news.com.au ahead of the premiere of season sixteen of MasterChef, Poh shared her true thoughts surrounding relationships and marriage following the breakdown of her two marriages.
“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,” she said.
