Ash Pollard details nightmare taxi ride during trip to China: ‘What do I do?’

by

Ash Pollard has revealed a nightmare ordeal she suffered during a trip to China.

The 39-year-old star of My Kitchen Rules recently announced she was taking a last-minute trip to Guangzhou, China, to attend the Canton Fair, which is the biggest trade fair in the country.

The trip didn’t begin smoothly for her; Ash had a very stressful taxi ride to her hotel.

On Friday, she posted a series of photos and videos to her Instagram story, showing a very difficult and upsetting experience.

One video, shot from the back seat of the taxi, shows her driver’s eyes in the rear-view mirror.

She shared a video explaining that her driver keeps falling asleep while driving. She’s trying to wake him by coughing, but it’s not helping.

After posting the video, Ash shared a selfie of herself looking scared, hand over her mouth.

She texted that it was dark, and the driver had fallen asleep so deeply his head bumped against the steering wheel. She confirmed she wasn’t joking and was only thirty minutes away from their destination, asking for advice on what to do.

A second video showed the taxi driving on a crowded highway at twilight, and Ash explained that her driver kept nodding off.

I was watching this video, and the person driving kept going for a short while, then braking and just… falling asleep! It’s clearly happened before – they said he’d been doing it for 45 minutes! Honestly, it’s like he’s a total expert at falling asleep while driving, it’s wild.

‘He keeps sniffing s*** from a bottle every now and then, too. Right. I need to stay alert guy.’

Luckily, Ash made it to her accommodation in one piece, albeit a little shaken.

She let out a relieved sigh and walked towards her room, overwhelmed with emotion. “I’m so relieved, I could cry,” she said.

Traveling alone in a new country can be frightening, and that fear becomes much more intense when you’re facing a serious health crisis.

The ordeal came with a happy ending, though, with Ash rounding out the video with some good news.

She explained that the Langham hotel upgraded her to a suite after noticing she seemed frightened when she arrived.

I explained to the company that the driver had fallen asleep, and I showed them the video as proof. They were really surprised and immediately refunded the cost of the driver, plus they’ve given me an upgrade on my next trip.

It comes after Ash recently weighed in on Nagi Maehashi’s latest controversy.

This week, the creator of RecipeTin Eats publicly criticized Australian PR firms for sending her unwanted offers. She said they were contacting her about sponsored posts, offering free products in exchange for promotion.

Ash, who is a passionate cook and previously appeared on My Kitchen Rules, recently told the Daily Telegraph that Nagi should appreciate the chance she’s been given.

‘I wouldn’t be burning bridges, don’t forget where you’ve come from,’ Pollard said.

I’ve been following Ash for a while now – she has over 132,000 followers on Instagram, and she’s mentioned she actually enjoys doing sponsored posts and other social media collaborations. It’s cool to see her embrace that side of things!

She pointed out that you never know when you might need help from someone, and questioned what was wrong with having influence over others.

Nagi publicly criticized Australian PR firms for offering her very little money to promote products on social media.

The next day, Nagi explained that she wasn’t bothered by the amount of money offered, but rather that her contact information had been shared without her consent.

‘It’s not about money, it’s about breach of privacy,’ she explained in an Instagram Stories post.

It’s really frustrating that my contact information ended up on a ton of public relations databases, despite the fact that I never accept sponsored content. It feels like a privacy breach.

Read More

2025-10-25 03:52