Mediacorp Star JJ Neo Is 6 Months Pregnant, Says 1 Of Her 2 Dogs Has Become Her Personal Bodyguard During Her Pregnancy

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Mediacorp artiste JJ Neo has always loved dogs. But the daughter of former Ch 8 Lucy Chow never had the chance to own one.

“[My mum] is very, very OCD, and doesn’t want the house to be dirty,” says the 30-year-old actress and singer-songwriter, who made up for it by volunteering with shelters instead, even when she was staying in Taiwan for a couple of years.

All that changed when JJ first started dating her husband, Mitch, 36, who had two adopted dogs — Ninja, a 10-year-old brown Singapore Special, and Sammy, eight, who's also a Singapore Special.

“Ninja is like the best dog ever. He's super obedient, so easy to train. I think he's actually very different from the usual Singapore Specials that you would expect, who are usually very skittish,” says JJ, who penned Covid-19 song 'The Light'.

We were then surprised to hear from her that Ninja had been rejected by three families during the trial period.

How most shelters work in Singapore is that there is a home stay period to see if the dog is suitable for the family.

“I think because a lot of people have that impression that when you adopt a dog, they come as they are, and they don't understand that it's like a child, right? You must teach them not to do certain things, what to do,” JJ explained.

However, it is Sammy, who is closest to JJ. In fact, Mitch got a little jealous initially. When JJ first met Sammy, he started following her around like her shadow.

Since then, it is the two dogs that have taught JJ valuable life lessons. “Happiness is not that hard sometimes and I feel like they've really, really taught me that,” JJ says. “They also remind us to look beyond the bumps and the challenges, and in spite of those bumps and challenges that we have to overcome, you know, there's still so much to look forward to.”

It was precisely this that was the inspiration behind her design for ‘Paws For Cause’, non-profit organisation SOSD Singapore's charity art initiative, which sees local creators and celebrities painting dog figurines to be auctioned off. “I [painted] a bunch of planets, and a bunch of things embody the meaning of life,” JJ says.

The statues will be auctioned online with 100 per cent of the proceeds supporting SOSD Singapore's rescue dog training programme and shelter operations.

The artwork will be showcased at café Chye Seng Huat Hardware (CSHH) until December 24, 2025.

For JJ, things are about to get more exciting in her household with a new addition to the family. Not a furkid, this time, though. 

JJ is about six months pregnant at the time of this interview and tells 8days.sg that she now feels that her family is complete.

“It is a bit of a skewed perspective, but I feel no family is complete without a family dog. And with the baby coming, it is like completing a puzzle,” she says.

And the furkids seem to know something is up. Well, at least one of them does.

While Sammy seems oblivious for now, Ninja has started becoming like her personal bodyguard, following here everywhere she goes, even to the bathroom, which has never happened before.

“Just last night, I tried to put his head against my tummy, and it seems like he felt it. He kind of sat up, as if he was being cautious," says JJ.

Photos: Nutripe, SOSD, JJ Neo

Catch JJ Neo in The Spirit Hunter on mewatch or in the video below: