Gurmit Singh On His 9-Year-Old Daughter Telling People That He’s Famous & Why He Thinks Sunny Side Up's Portrayal Of Interracial Marriage Is Important

Gurmit Singh is back on screen. And no, not as our favourite ah beng contractor Phua Chu Kang.

The 57-year-old is starring in Mediacorp’s new English long-form drama Sunny Side Up, which is described in its meWATCH synopsis as a "daily social drama that takes a true-to-life, honest look at Singapore's melting pot culture" filled with "light-hearted and uplifting tales that restore your faith in humanity”.

Well, that or you can think of it as a multicultural 118.

In Sunny Side Up, Gurmit plays Alex Rajendran, a patient care assistant who just tied the knot with Christine Goh (played by Gina Tan), who’s a doctor.

The couple has to navigate the struggles of blending their two families together — Alex and Christine have two and three kids from their previous marriages respectively who just can't seem to get along. 

Filming for the show began in January this year, and looks set to continue for the next two years.

When 8days.sg spoke to Gurmit, he had nothing but praises to sing about the cast, which includes newer actors like Shawn Thia and Xenia Tan, as well as veterans like Najip Ali and Wang Yuqing.

"It's been very, very, nice working with this whole group of people and chatting with everybody. I always joke that I don't see any prima-donnas or people who are hard to get along with on-set… at the moment,” Gurmit jokes.

He goes on to share that he was a little “concerned" when he was first told that Sunny Side Up was going to be a long-form drama, which is a huge commitment.

After all, he did leave his job as a full-time artiste in 2014 to spend more time with his family. 

Gurmit and his wife-of-27-years Melissa have three kids: Gabrielle, 23, Elliot, 19, and nine-year-old Mikaela.

"But the concerns were addressed very quickly 'cos they told me that depending on my involvement in the storyline, I may be very heavily involved, or I may not be involved at all,” says Gurmit.

"There's a bit of give and take, I’m not clamped down with a chain and ball to the project,” he laughs, adding that he’s able to request for days off to celebrate special occasions or have family time.

Yes, with Gurmit, it's always family first.

8DAYS: You mentioned in a 2019 interview with us that you regret that your youngest child wouldn't know how it's like to have a superstar dad, since you stepped back from work when she was younger. So do you reckon Sunny Side Up to be the project that will help her realise that her dad is still a superstar?

GURMIT SINGH: Yeah, but I have to say first, to correct you, I wasn't regretting that my youngest daughter wouldn't know how famous I was. I was kind of joking, if anything. My first two [kids] saw me at the prime of my career, but the third one saw me bumming around at home, doing nothing. But yeah, she's very aware that I'm famous, and she tells people that I'm famous. (Laughs) She's very cute lah. 

So she goes up to her teachers and says: "You know, my dad's Gurmit Singh, he's famous?"

Yeah, she comes home and tells me that (laughs). She would tell people, her teachers or her classmates, "My father's an actor, you know".

How do her peers react?

So far, the teachers and her schoolmates have been quite cool about it 'cos it's not like I go around, loiter around the canteen. I wasn't able to go into the school 'cos of COVID-19 [anyway].

At the moment now, I only do her drop-off at school and I stay in the car. So nobody really knows that Gurmit Singh is dropping off his daughter at this school (laughs). And I think it's kind of cool too lah  'cos as I've said before, I want my wife and my children to have their own privacy. 

I sacrifice my privacy 'cos of my job. I accept that as part and parcel of my job but I don't have to make my family suffer too.

Have your kids ever expressed an interest in showbiz?

Yeah, they've always had. I think it's in the blood lah (laughs). They've dabbled in either theatre, or short films, or even doing behind-the-scenes, like editing, or sound, or visual effects. My son, Elliot, who just graduated from polytechnic, he took visual effects and film effects.

Is that something he wants to pursue in the future?

We're not sure. I mean, things can change all the time, we'll see how it goes. And I don't want to pin them down, and say: 'You must do this. I'm an actor, so let's continue the family tradition’. 

I've always said: 'Look for something that you would be happy getting up in the morning for'. It may be editing, it may not be. It doesn't bother me if my child does something else.

How about your eldest daughter Gabrielle? Is she doing a theatre-related job now, since she studied theatre in university?

Yeah, she studied theatre in the UK, and fine arts too 'cos it was a mixed degree. She's back in Singapore and working now.

Your character on the show is a dad that tries his best to understand his kids and hear them out — is that your parenting style too?

Yeah, it's quite similar. I don't know whether the writers were watching me at home (laughs). Like they were stalking me and then decided: ‘Eh, we can do this character too'. 

But yes, it's pretty similar. I don't like to be that kind of parent that, you know, scolds first and talks later. By then the damage is done. I would rather hear their side of the story and say, "Okay, what's up, why is this going on, what were the circumstances that made you do such a stupid thing", and after that, decide whether they deserve to be punished or a talking to. Or maybe what they need is a better understanding of the situation.

Do your kids come to confide in you, like how your onscreen son does in Sunny Side Up?

Yeah, of course. I can't share with you [what they confide in me] 'cos it's very personal, but I think for every parent, you hope, or you want to have enough hope and faith that your child will come to you when they need somebody to talk to, or confide in, or share their thoughts with. 

As a parent, the last thing I would want my child to do is to seek help elsewhere, and I'm left in the dark. I don't think any parent would want that. I think most parents, they would love it when the child comes and say, 'Eh, I have this problem, I need your help, I need your guidance’.

We feel validation, we feel like, "I'm useful as a parent!"

In the show, you’re married to Gina Tan’s character, and the topic of interracial marriage comes up. Are there any other things you hope the show will address?

The fact that we have an interracial marriage is going to raise awareness.

[When it comes to marriage], even if you're from the same race, when you come together, there's a whole lot of baggage from where you came from, in terms of your educational background, in terms of your upbringing, your parenting style… All these will have to be put on the table, and the couple will have to sort it out and agree on what's best for the family that they've created. 

And then when you throw race into the mix as well... I love [that Sunny Side Up is showing this] 'cos I think there are more and more interracial marriages now, and I think a lot of people will find this dynamic very eye-opening, and that it can be done. It’s not all about who's right or who's wrong, but about coming to an understanding and letting things work out.

For you, this also comes from a place of experience, right?

Yeah, exactly. I'm also, you know, in real life, in an inter-racial marriage to my wife, she's Cantonese, she's Chinese, but I'm not Cantonese (laughs).

You mentioned previously that you had to wait seven years before you could propose to your wife?

Yeah, that's right. Oh, you did your homework (laughs). Yeah, we came from different backgrounds and everything, and finally the moment came when I thought: 'I have to. I have to do this now, this is the next step, and the worst that could happen is that I would get the answer: 'No, cannot’.'

And as you can tell, there was very little resistance, and the rest, as they say, is history lah.

Resistance from either side of your families?

We weren't sure. We really were not sure ’cos my parents were hoping for me to marry into an Indian family, an Indian girl, and her side was looking for a Chinese guy. 

But both our parents got to know us over the years, and they really liked us, and it was time for us to say: 'Eh, how much do you really like us?’ and if they could allow us to get married.

Photos: Mediacorp, Gurmit Singh/Instagram

You can catch Sunny Side Up every weekday on Ch 5 at 7:30pm, or binge-watch it on meWATCH here. The first episode is embedded below.