Sarah Tiong, the 34-year-old chef and former MasterChef Australia contestant, announced her engagement to partner Aya on Tuesday, sharing a series of intimate photographs on Instagram that captured the moment she proposed.
In the carousel post Tiong uploaded, one image shows her on bended knee offering a ring as Aya, dressed in white, reacts. Another frame shows the couple kissing as decorative lights glow and the sun sets, with a golden Labrador in view. Tiong captioned the post, "She said yes," and added, "Mum, you’d adore Aya. She makes me so happy." The pair also included a close-up of Aya’s engagement ring, described in the post as a large diamond set in classic gold.
Tiong first appeared on MasterChef Australia in 2017 and returned for the show's 12th season in 2020. Her departure from the competition in 2020 drew attention after television viewers debated whether she made an offensive gesture while exiting the MasterChef kitchen. On the program The Project, host Peter Helliar asked Tiong, "Did you flip the bird on the way out?" Tiong responded with a quip reflecting her legal training: "My lawyer training tells me to plead the fifth. I can neither confirm nor deny." Co-host Carrie Bickmore said she believed Tiong had been pointing her index fingers rather than making an obscene gesture, and public reaction at the time was divided between viewers who saw a raised middle finger and those who said the angle made a harmless "finger guns" motion appear more provocative.
Since her television appearances, Tiong has authored cookbooks and opened the restaurant Ogni in Sydney’s Surry Hills. She has also worked as a part-time lawyer, a detail she has referenced in media appearances.
Tiong’s announcement on Instagram adds to a recent trend of public figures using social media to share milestone moments directly with followers. She did not provide further details about wedding plans in the post.