S’pore-Based Actress Says “Rich Theatre Philanthropist” Asked Her To Be His Sugar Baby & To Move To Russia

Malaysian-born actress Cheryl Chitty Tan revealed she once had a close brush with becoming a sugar baby without even realising it at first. 

The 36-year-old Forbidden City: Portrait of an Empress actress, who is a familiar face in Singapore’s theatre scene, also said she wasn’t going to reveal who it was as she was worried he will sue, or worse, murder her, she revealed in a candid four-part series on Instagram.

According to Cheryl, the man was a “rich theatre philanthropist who kept praising her talent and even said to her, “I’m thinking about sponsoring you, are you thinking about moving away?”.

At this point, Cheryl admitted she was still clueless and simply thought of him as someone who donates generously towards theatre productions.

After months of his constant mention wanting to “sponsor” her, Cheryl took a meeting with him.

Cheryl was then told that “there is no such thing as a free lunch. You have to think about what you have to give me in return.”

“And I was like, “Do you want 10 % of my profits? Like, professionally?” Cheryl remembered asking. But the man suggested: “Well, you know, we don’t have to talk about this here. We can talk about it in Russia. Have you thought about going to Russia?”

“To act? What??” recounted Cheryl.

It seems the man refused to be direct and simply asked Cheryl to call him should she want to take up his offer.

After he left, then it clicked. “Oh! It’s a sex thing! Wah lau, just say lah,” she said.

In her Instagram post, Cheryl, who revealed in May she is neurodivergent and has mild autism, explained that she doesn’t gets hints easily.

She also stressed she wasn’t slamming sugar babies, just the man’s shady, indirect approach.

“I’m not saying I WANTED to [be] a sugar baby. I’m saying I would appreciate directness. It’s more respectful,” she wrote.

Cheryl also pointed out that he had been being vague because he likely feared he was being recorded.

“If I had been recording him, nothing would have been explicitly said, which implies that he does this all the time,” she said.

Cheryl concluded with a sobering note: “The truth is, women just face this all the time, every woman you know has faced some form of sexual harassment and/or assault from a man. This is very chill, already,” she wrote.

Now, we really wonder who this wealthy and influential person is.

Photos: cherylchittytan/IG

Catch Cheryl in Paddles Up on mewatch or in the video below: