Poh Ling Yeow has opened up about her heartbreaking miscarriage and admitted she is still ‘grateful’ for her pregnancy despite the devastating loss.
The MasterChef judge, 50, told how she became pregnant during her marriage to her now-ex-husband Jono Bennett, who she split from in 2021.
Speaking on the Share My Mood podcast, Poh said she was ‘elated’ when she became pregnant by accident, but then tragically lost the baby at 12 weeks.
‘I got pregnant by accident, and it was interesting because even though I was really worried about it when it happened, I don’t know, whatever the hormones that kick in, I was elated. It was great,’ she told The KIIS Network’s Will & Woody.
‘And then on the 12th week, it was literally on the day that I could tell people, I lost the baby.’
Poh Ling Yeow has opened up about her heartbreaking miscarriage and admitted she is still ‘grateful’ for her pregnancy despite the devastating loss
Poh explained that she heartbreakingly went through a ten-hour labour at her home amid the miscarriage as she bravely opened up about her loss.
‘It’s so intense that it’s quite surreal in my head, it’s a bit dream state because, I mean, I was in a lot of pain and I was losing so much blood,’ she went on.
‘Yeah it was pretty full on. It was ten hours… I actually saw the baby. I birthed.’
Despite the devastating experience, Poh admitted she is still ‘grateful’ she went through her pregnancy and shared that she kept her baby’s ultrasound scan.
‘I’m still really grateful. I still have the picture of the ultrasound on my fridge, which creeps people out,’ she shared.
The MasterChef judge, 50, told how she became pregnant during her marriage to her now-ex-husband Jono Bennett (pictured), who she split from in 2021
‘I went through pregnancy. I actually went through the process of birthing. I know what that feels like and I know what it feels like to have something growing inside me, which is just such a special thing, you know? So, yeah, that’s how I went through it.’
Poh also addressed the stigma around talking about miscarriages, saying she finds it ‘really weird’ people are encouraged to stay silent about their experiences.
‘I actually think that it’s a really weird thing that we’re encouraged to not tell people “we’re pregnant” when I think it’s the opposite, but it might be my brain type,’ she shared.
‘I think if you tell everyone, then when it does happen or if it happens [miscarriage] – which is like a third of pregnancy, so how I processed it was with those figures. I was like, I’m not special.
‘I always go back to you are a dot, you are not special and I always go back to instead of why me?, why not me? and that gets me out of everything.’
Speaking on the Share My Mood podcast, Poh said she was ‘elated’ when she became pregnant by accident, but then tragically lost the baby at 12 weeks
Poh and Jono went their separate ways in early 2021 after seven years of marriage, and he has now found love again with a new partner, who he shares a baby with.
The MasterChef season one runner-up said she couldn’t be happier for Jono and his new partner, saying she is so pleased that he got the family he always wanted.
She went on: ‘Jono and I ultimately ended up breaking up, so I was really grateful…and now he’s actually got a baby with a new partner now, which I’m so I’m so happy for them because that’s what he’s wanted the whole time.’
Poh said Jono had always wanted a child during their relationship, while she became unsure because she didn’t know how it would work financially as they depended on her income.
‘My ex really wanted a child [and] he was like, I definitely want to, that’s always been part of my plan,’ she said.
Poh explained that she heartbreakingly went through a ten-hour labour at her home amid the miscarriage as she bravely opened up about her loss
‘And I thought I always did, but I was in a position where my earning capacity was higher than his and we’d built a lifestyle around my income.
‘I was starting to get older, and that was starting to make me feel a bit frigid about the idea [of having kids]. It was like we had heaps of time, and then suddenly you’re like 40.’
Poh also touched on the ‘unique issues’ women face when deciding whether to start a family as she discussed how she felt about having children.
‘I was like, oh man, I, I actually don’t know how this would work now… financially and also practically and just talking about being an individual,’ she said.
Poh first began dating Jono (pictured in 2016) in 2009 when they met on the set of MasterChef and they went on to tie the knot in 2014, before separating in 2021
‘I started to think about how so much of what I do is about me being free and I think if I had started earlier, I would have had more courage and I would have bounced back quicker with considering it.
‘But as I got older, I got more fixed in my ways and I got more frightened about how it would encroach on my independence.
‘As I’m getting older, as a creative, there’s so many ideas I want to express with my art and all these other projects that I have and I was starting to think, do I have a child or do I keep creating?
‘Like I have to pick, right and you have to as a woman. That’s something that is unique to a woman and for time and eternity will be the unique issue.’
She was married to her first husband Matt Phipps in 1989 for nine years. Matt is now married to her best friend Sarah Rich and they all maintain a close friendship (all pictured with Jono)
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Poh first began dating Jono in 2009 when they met on the set of MasterChef and they went on to tie the knot in 2014, before separating in 2021.
She previously married her first husband Matt Phipps in 1989 but they later split after nine years together. Matt is now married to her best friend of 20 years Sarah Rich.
Poh maintains close friendships with both of her ex-husbands and even runs the Jamface café in Adelaide with Matt and his new wife Sarah.
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