MasterChef Australia’s judges might have to hold on tight to their tasting forks, going by Poh Ling Yeow’s glowing assessment of Robert Irwin’s guest appearance on the 2026 season.

Twenty-four amateur cooks will be vying for culinary honours when the long-running show returns to the Ten Network from April 19, with Yeow back on the judging panel alongside Andy Allen, Sofia Levin and Jean-Christophe Novelli.

Ten is also spruiking “some of the most dazzling guest judges yet” for the 18^th season – including the Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle, Jimmy and Jane Barnes, and wildlife warrior Irwin, who describes his involvement with the show as a “dream come true”.

“He’s an absolute livewire… he’s just got that electric personality that’s obviously genetic,” Yeow told The New Daily of Irwin.

She said the 22-year-old – whose TV charisma is evident in his co-hosting gig on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here and who further demonstrated his versatility when he won the most recent season of America’s Dancing with the Stars – blew her mind with how skilfully he critiqued contestants’ dishes.

“I’ve told everyone how shocked I was with how quickly he was able to slip into food critic mode and do it really well,” Yeow said.

“He could literally sit in for one of us and no one would know any different about him not being from the food industry… he does understand flavour.”

Yeow also got to welcome the Duchess of Sussex into the MasterChef kitchen, with Meghan’s appearance kept a closely guarded secret until she arrived at the show’s Melbourne studio during her tour Down Under with husband Prince Harry.

There was backlash from some fans who took to the comments section on the show’s Instagram page to criticise the decision to invite her as a guest judge. However, Ten described Meghan – who shares cooking tips on her Netflix lifestyle show With Love, Meghan – as a “passionate foodie”.

“The reaction from the contestants was exactly what we wanted,” Yeow said of the duchess’s arrival on set.

“They were in total shock; everyone’s jaws were on the ground … it was very joyous for us to watch.”

Yeow was also impressed by how seamlessly Jimmy Barnes and wife Jane took to their role as guest judges, alongside returning culinary names such as Rick Stein, Maggie Beer, Curtis Stone, Kirsten Tibballs and Adriano Zumbo.

Adelaide-based Yeow is a longtime member of the MasterChef family. She first competed on the show’s inaugural season 16 years ago (when she was runner-up to winner Julie Goodwin), returned for MasterChef: Back to Win in 2020, then joined the judging panel in 2024 – a role which saw her nominated for a Gold Logie last year.

“It was just such a wild, wacky journey for me to go on,” she says of the experience of being a contestant, which led to her establishing a successful food business (Jamface) and publishing several cookbooks, while continuing to practice as a professional artist.

“I found so many parts of myself that I never knew existed when I was on the show, under those pressures and kind of being isolated away from the world, being able to focus on this thing that I loved.”

One of the things she discovered was that she was “a bit of a daredevil” when it came to choosing to cook dishes that were outside the box or dangerous to attempt in the given timeframe.

“I was risking everything every time because I knew that if I did go out on that, I’d feel like I’d given it my all. That’s how I wanted to play it.”

She adds with a laugh: “Which is also why I’ve never won – but I’m here!”

Yeow believes the enduring popularity of MasterChef can be partly attributed to the fact that it is a “wholesome” show that different generations can watch together.

While many reality-TV programs rely on conflict and clashing personalities to boost ratings, the cooking competition’s format fosters camaraderie between contestants. This year’s amateur cooks are closer than ever, Yeow says.

“There’s just such a unique kinship they have this season … it’s definitely not performative, just very sincere. And it’s really moving to see that very unique culture we have on the show.”

Asked to name one of her favourite dishes from the past two seasons, she barely hesitates before nominating Depinder Chhibber’s Thai curry ice-cream, which was served with roti, chilli caramel and lemon and ginger crumb in the 2025 season.

“It was incredible,” Yeow says, admitting that before tasting the ice-cream she had feared it was in danger of veering beyond the “yum-yuck” trend and into the “yuck zone”.

“But it was just so moorish. And with the roti, she gave it this other sort of South-East Asian context. It was such a clever dish.”

MasterChef Australia judge Poh Ling Yeow is not a fan of food hacks. Photo: Channel 10

Yeow believes MasterChef has played a key role in changing Australia’s food culture, including improving awareness of food provenance and the value of using seasonal ingredients.

This season, she says, the popularity of the pressure cooker among contestants indicates a return to more “old-fashioned cooking” and the type of dishes that would otherwise require lengthy braising.

As someone who is not a big fan of food fads and hacks, she has no problem with that.

“People go, ‘Tell me a cool hack’. And I’m like, ‘No’, even if I know of one, because I’m resentful of it… I just want people to learn cooking in the proper way, you know.”

She adds that a lot of “Instagram food” is about appearance rather than substance.

“Like, it just looks great, but then you can tell it tastes rubbish because if you’re a good cook you can see what they’ve put into it and you’re like, ‘it’s not possible for that to have any flavour’… I just can’t stand things that are just there to look good.”

The new season of MasterChef Australia premieres on Ten at 7pm, April 19