MasterChef's Poh Ling Yeow reveals she suffers from 'crippling' shyness

She was a fan favourite on MasterChef with her quirky, effervescent personality, but Poh Ling Yeow has confessed she suffers from ‘crippling’ shyness in real life.

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph on Wednesday, Poh, 47, confessed she suffered from self-esteem issues as child, which carried over into adulthood.

The artist and chef admitted she always felt different as a child, and ‘wanted to be blue-eyed with freckles, long-limbed and blonde hair’.

Wallflower: She was a fan favourite on MasterChef with her quirky, effervescent personality, but Poh Ling Yeow has confessed she suffers from ‘crippling’ shyness in real life

‘I think looking different has always been an issue and even creeps up on me now as a nearly 50-year-old,’ she confessed.

Poh revealed she was so shy as a child that her parents enrolled her in drama classes to help her build her confidence.  

‘I am not even confident now all of the time,’ she admitted.

Shy girl: In an interview with The Daily Telegraph on Wednesday, Poh, 47, confessed she suffered from self-esteem issues as child, which carried over into adulthood

‘I realise it is like exercise, you have to maintain it. I was super shy as a kid but it was my creativity that made me have to get over it. 

‘It was crippling. I could barely put my hand up to ask questions in school.’

Poh said she turned to art to help her overcome her shyness, and claimed painting and drawing ‘took me to another place and gave me a sense of purpose’. 

Artist at work: Poh said she turned to art to help her overcome her shyness, and claimed painting and drawing ‘took me to another place and gave me a sense of purpose’

Meanwhile, Poh made her first public appearance on Wednesday since splitting from her second husband, Jonathan Bennett, in February. 

After being announced as a L’Oréal ambassador in March, the Jamface founder attended the cosmetic giant’s Revitalift Retinol launch in Sydney.

‘I have huge respect for [makeup’s] ability to transform how we feel and see our own potential,’ she wrote on Instagram in March. 

‘I have huge respect for [makeup’s] ability to transform how we feel and see our own potential,’ she wrote on Instagram in March after being announced as a L’Oréal ambassador