EXCLUSIVE Ash Pollard doesn't look like this anymore! My Kitchen Rules 'snob' unveils stunning transformation and reveals how she reinvented herself after being branded a reality TV villain

Daily Mail​

14 hours ago

She's the curly-haired beauty who first came to attention as the 'snobbish villain' in the 2017 season of My Kitchen Rules.
But Ash Pollard looks completely different these days after totally reinventing herself.
Now 39, the former reality star has carved out quite a niche on social media, with fans praising her engaging and relatable content about interior design, relationships, fashion, beauty, and the challenges and joys of motherhood.
She has also undergone a glam makeover, swapping her frizzy dark blonde locks for a sleeker platinum bob.
Ash recently starred in a photoshoot that showed her looking stylish in an array of designer outfits while doing household chores.
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So aside from looks, what else has changed?
'Nothing,' Ash tells Daily Mail Australia. 'I'm still a snob.
'I still like to eat at nice restaurants and buy certain brands of clothes. At the same time, I can still be the girl next door.
She says the Ash Pollard Aussie saw on her maiden reality tilt was but one facet of her personality.
'Yeah, I was pitched as the villain, and I was pitched as a snob, but they're facets of my personality,' she explains.
'I'm not just those things – I can be those things at times... I'm not denying, but I'm more than just that book.'
After her MKR turn, Ash went on to star in a raft of reality shows, including I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! and Dancing With The Stars, as well as a stint on regional radio on the Central Coast of New South Wales.
More recently, Ash has found her audience on Instagram with her highly engaging family-related content.
The self-labelled accidental influencer believes that it is her no-filter approach to content creation that appears to resonate with her audience.
'I never planned on becoming an influencer. It wasn't something that I aspired to be, ever,' she says.
'I just fell into that off the back of being on a number of reality television shows.
'I don't want to be fake. I don't want to be caught in a lie and I just want people to feel like they're along on the journey with me. I know, that sounds so cliché.'
Ash admits that becoming a mother to daughters Clementine, four, and Claudette, three, has changed her dramatically as a person and mad her reassess her professional life.
'At that point, I thought I was going to be on a Metro radio show, but I was juggling breastfeeding, and wondering: "what the hell?"'
'I had a realisation that my life is going to take another direction and it's a better direction than I had ever considered.'
Ash says she realised she was letting external forces dictate the trajectory of her life and now she is focusing on building her content creation brand, she's back in control.
'I've got control of my life,' she says.
'I was letting radio stations and television networks rule my life and tell me where I should be.
'When I was working for the radio station, they were like: "yeah, absolutely. We see you in a Metro radio station," but I was like, "yeah, but when? Because I don't want to be working in these country towns for the rest of my life. Let's come up with a plan for when I can leave the Central Coast."'
'I felt like I was always being given the runaround for a long time, and I was trying to prove myself.'
She says the situation also caused a fair amount of self-doubt in her mind.
'Sometimes I used to think "am I talented, or am I not talented? Are these guys just using me to put me in this sector – in this regional network, or do I have talent?"'
'I feel like I'm much more in control of my life, and that's through learning what it is to be a mum.'
While she doesn't share every single detail of her private life with long-time partner Pete Ferne and their two children, Ash says she realises that reality is where she found fame initially.
'You like to keep a few secrets from the masses,' she says.
'But I think in terms of a business and what sells is the reality of my life and that's what I've been doing forever is reality television, so why not share the majority of my reality with the people?
'The imperfection of life is normal because there's so much of that curated stuff on Instagram at the moment that we feel like, "s**t, we need to change our faces like Kris Jenner and we need to have a better house because that person was doing it or we need to buy these plates because that person said we need to."'
'I don't think that that needs to happen. Like, can't we all just exist without consumerism? At the same time, I sell products as well, but I'm also a mum of two toddlers that scream and have tantrums – I share that element as well.'
One aspect of her personal life Ash is happy to share is her long-term relationship with Pete.
She previously revealed that walking down the aisle was not high on the couple's to-do list – something that don't look like changing anytime soon.
'Honestly, I'm waiting for him to rock up with a diamond – just give it to me already,' she jokes.
'We rarely discuss marriage. It's not high on our priority list. We like to invest our money in things other than weddings.'
However, Ash does admit she would be receptive to a ring should Pete choose to get down on one knee.
'I have mentioned that investing in fine jewels might be something on the horizon if he is open to it,' she says.
'But that whole fairytale thing is not really a fairytale for me. I do like the idea of my partner surprising me with a precious gem, but it's not like, "oh my God, if you don't do this, I'm going to leave you."
When it comes to what's next for the effervescent reality star, Ash says the sky's the limit.
'I'm not just going to be an influencer. I want to influence my own product one day. I don't know what that is, but I know for certain that my followers will be influential in that,' she says.
'They have been with me ever since MKR the majority of them, and so I feel like they would love to be involved in whatever that is and however that comes to fruition.'
And can those fans expect any additions to the Pollard-Ferne brood anytime soon?
'I'm chopping out, mate,' she says matter-of-factly
'If I was as rich as a Kardashian I reckon I would have more so that I could have people help me do all the other bulls***, you know, like the washing and the just all the cooking.
'If I could afford a personal chef I would have probably another kid, but then I don't know. When they're young, your hormones change and your brain goes crazy. Nothing can take you out of how hard it is.
'I still think that even any amount of cash can't help you in that situation, right?'
At the end of the day, Ash is an eternal realist, admitting she will never forget her reality roots.
'I'm not Nicole Kidman. I'm not a brain surgeon. I'm not a scientist. I'm just a girl that went on reality television,' she says.
'I'm not an idiot. I'm grateful for the opportunities that have come my way. I'm lucky, and I feel like I've put my feet on the right path.'