Jeanette Aw “Doesn't See A Need” To Explain Anything To Anonymous Haters Who Criticised Her After She Fainted From Exhaustion At Her Patisserie
As the first guest on the second season of Jean Danker’s podcast, R U Okay?, Jeanette reveals how she stays mentally resilient in the face of negative comments.
It’s the first episode of the second season of Class 95 DJ Jean Danker’s podcast, R U Okay? which centers around conversations about mental health and wellness. And we’re definitely getting off on the right foot with its first guest Jeanette Aw, 43.
Jeanette’s been a busy bee lately and is looking to bring her patisserie Once Upon A Time over to Japan.
But baking aside (we’ll get back to this topic later, we promise), Jeanette and Jean had a heart-to-heart talk about the challenges of staying mentally strong in showbiz and taking on roles, like Jeanette’s award-winning turn in The Dream Makers, that are taxing on one's mental health.
Previously, Jeanette shared on an episode of talk show Hear U Out, that playing Zhao Fei'er took a huge mental toll on her.
The actress revealed that to portray her character, who suffered from depression, accurately, it culminated in her breaking down on-set as the emotions got too overwhelming for her.
Apart from breaking down on-set, Jeanette shared on R U Okay? that she was constantly losing weight even though she was following her normal diet, due to the intense emotions that she was feeling.
"It took a while before I could come out of that [state]," she said.
But there are no regrets on Jeanette's part.
"I think I represented it true to what [depression] should be," she said, describing it as her responsibility as an actor to not always portray a stereotype.
"Sometimes, for TV purposes, it needs to be dramatic, to the extent that [my character] feels more mad than depressed, so I just wanted to maintain that balance," she added.
Jeanette also spoke about another role that was emotionally challenging for her in the episode. Watch the full video below to find out more.
Apart from her on-screen roles, Jeanette also spoke about an incident earlier last year, when she blacked out at her patisserie from exhaustion. At that time, a couple of outspoken netizens criticised Jeanette for "trying to get attention".
But that's not the case, of course. 8days.sg spoke to Jeanette via email to find out more.
Jeanette shared that the only reason she opened up about fainting was 'cos she couldn't fulfil the next day's orders, and she wanted to give her customers an explanation.
"Looking back now, I can laugh at those comments [from netizens], but it sure didn’t feel good when it happened. [It's] not like I wanted to faint and neither did I want to announce that I fainted. I had to because I couldn’t fulfil the next day’s orders," Jeanette wrote.
She went on to share a negative comment she saw that really took her by surprise.
"There were many who were understanding and concerned. They even sent bird's nest and tonics to my patisserie for me. Of course, there are also those who weren’t so kind. There was another patisserie that posted on their IG that perhaps they can faint two times over since they have double my volume? I was quite shaken when it happened. I thought, 'Aren’t we all in the same F&B community?'" she wrote.
At the end of the day, Jeanette remains largely unbothered by them.
"I don’t see a need to explain [my fainting spells]. If I didn’t have to share that experience because I couldn’t fulfil orders, no one would ever know to this day, except for family and friends. Those mean comments only happen in [the] cyber world, no one ever said those things in my face lol (sic). So I don’t see a need to explain anything to anonymous accounts," she wrote.
Thankfully, there's one other positive outcome from the whole episode.
"Actually, through my sharing, I realised that many people have gone through the same experiences as me, both male and female. That made me feel normal lol (sic). I guess it’s just [a matter of] getting sufficient rest," she wrote.
Oh, and to anyone out there who has any advice or tips on how to prevent similar fainting spells, Jeanette is all ears.
"If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know," she added, as a response to our last question.
Catch Season 1 of R U Okay? on meWATCH here. Jeanette's episode is embedded below.