Rebecca Lim Had Trouble Finding A Dress To Wear, Desmond Ng Flipped A Coin To Decide On His Outfit & Other Star Awards 2024 Backstage Goss

By now, you would’ve heard about Kym Ng’s first Best Actress win, seen Best Supporting Actor Zhang Zetong’s waterworks on stage, and watched Jeremy Chan be the night's big winner at the Star Awards on Sunday (April 21).

Although the dust and excitement from the night has settled, we’re here to tell you that you haven’t seen it all.

8days.sg snooped around backstage prior to the three-hour show, and picked up on exclusive backstage goss, and some of the funniest behind-the-scenes stories.

Tyler Ten

We were totally expecting Tyler to bring a cute lunchbox, just like the My Melody and My Neighbour Totoro ones he had for previous years. What he brought this year, however, was a plastic bag of hard-boiled eggs.

When we first asked to look inside the plastic bag, the hunky actor said: “Smells like farts so I don’t want to open!” He eventually gave in and let us shoot a TikTok of him diligently peeling the eggs (Thanks, Tyler).

Turns out, he only had eggs for lunch as he’s trying to lose weight for his role in Emerald Hill, which will start filming in May.

“My first outfit for today is very tight. Last week when I tried it, I couldn’t even button it. So I cut water and carbs from my diet and did a lot of cardio to fit into it. Today I’m very ‘dry’, you see, my face is sunken already,” he chuckled.

Jernelle Oh

Jernelle, who won Most Popular Rising Star, spent two weeks working towards looking her best for the Star Awards.

“I did a lot of skincare 'cos my skin is dry. I’ve been doing gua sha, applying face masks, and using a device with hot and cool light to prep my skin,” said Jernelle. She also admitted to being a “high-energy person”, and had to do breathing exercises to calm herself down for her big moment.

“My dresses this year are slightly tighter, so I couldn’t indulge. I ate lunch as per normal today, and the gown became slightly tighter! I was worried,” giggled Jernelle.

Desmond Ng

Desmond’s recent weight loss did not go unnoticed. He's playing a paralympic swimmer in an upcoming drama, and had set for himself a goal to lose 5kg.

In the end, he “accidentally” lost 8kg.

When we teased Desmond about becoming the next Xiao Fei Yu aka Flying Fish, he smiled and said: “I hope so. Maybe a single-armed Xiao Fei Yu?”

Being the “indecisive Libra” he is, Desmond also revealed that he “flipped a coin” when it came to choosing his two suits for the night. We suppose leaving it up to luck is one way to pick an outfit?

Zhang Zetong

When we approached Zetong for a chat, he was already dressed in a sleeveless two-piece suit. Trust us when we say his biceps definitely turned some heads as he sauntered around backstage.

Did he have a special workout to make sure his arms looked toned? Well, as it turned out, Zetong is set to appear in the same swimming drama as Desmond Ng, and the option of wearing a sleeveless outfit was a happy coincidence.

“When you receive the notice that you’re going to be in a sports show, you think of Baywatch, lifeguards, and fit swimmers. I wanted to be in good shape. Since late last year, I’ve been trying to make myself bigger, buffer, and more toned. Unfortunately after I read the script, I realised there wasn’t a need for it, and I wasn’t going to go topless at all,” laughed Zetong.

He continued: “I feel very happy that I can eat anything right now, but since I thought I was training for something, and this suit came two weeks ago, I was like “let’s just go for this."

Hazelle Teo

It was Hazelle’s fourth consecutive year hosting the Star Awards Walk of Fame, and although she was nominated for two awards, she was more focused on the task than thinking about her chances of winning.

“I don’t want to get my hopes up ‘cos if I don’t win, I would be so disappointed," she said. "This year, I didn’t canvas votes and it’s more for my mental wellness. Last year, I was so disappointed at not getting the award that I cried so much. I didn’t want that to happen to me this year,” she said.

Hazelle sadly went home empty handed again but made it a point to treat herself to her favourite dishes at BBQ Box. “Tomorrow I’m also going to eat BBQ meat with my usual Koi order — ice cream milk tea, 25 per cent sugar, less bubble, less ice,” she said with a grin.

Richie Koh

When we first approached Richie, he pointed to a rack of clothes and asked: “You guess which is mine?”

He then said it was his first time wearing pink to Star Awards. “I’m not as nervous as last year. I’m still nervous, but I’m looking to enjoy the process,” said Richie.

Luck was not on his side this year — both Best Actor and Top 10 eluded him. However, he did tell us that regardless of the results, he was going to have a drink before bed to wind down from the hectic day.

Jeremy Chan

The newly minted Best Actor was also one of the Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes, and we think his loving wife Jesseca Liu, might just have something to do with it.

“We encourage each other every day, but today is extra special. She woke up very early and was sitting alone in the living room, voting for me. When I woke up, I was like, where is she? I thought she was busy with her own stuff, but when I saw her [voting], I was so touched. I gave her a hug and thanked her,” said Jeremy.

He also revealed: “I feel [Jesseca] is more nervous than me. She’s been through this whole thing and it’s all very new to me, so she’s nervous on my behalf.”

Herman Keh

When we asked Walk of Fame host Herman if he was feeling nervous, he said: “I might get more nervous later, so I might have to take a poop before I go up on stage. Too many butterflies in my stomach and I think I need to release them,” added Herman with a laugh.

Rebecca Lim

We caught Becks as she was getting her hair done and she admitted to being “a little stressed” as her job as presenter was her first since becoming a mum.

“There was a bit of pressure because you want to make sure you're in tip-top condition. But I gave birth only two months ago and there are some things that weren't there previously that are still there, so it was really challenging to find an outfit this year,” chuckled Rebecca.

She was, however, happy to be back for the occasion as it had been “about a year” since she dolled up and met everyone.

When asked if she was reluctant to leave her baby at home that morning, Becks chuckled: “No because I know my husband and helper are taking good care of him.”

Chantalle Ng

When asked if her mum, Lin Meijiao, helped with her speech, Chantalle said: “She would go through my thank you speech with me in case I win something. It was so funny, I held up my old trophy just so we could rehearse properly!”

Andie Chen

Andie, who was up for both Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, said his kids Ayden, eight, and Avery, six, were more excited about the awards than he was. 

"Once in a while they will come to me and ask what I'm nominated for. But they mix up the Golden Horse, Golden Bell, Star Awards and Oscars,” chuckled Andie.

Desmond Tan

New dad Desmond had a slightly different pre-Star Awards ritual this year.

"Usually before I leave the house for Star Awards I'll kiss my missus goodbye. But this time I'm slightly busier because I have to kiss the baby goodbye too,” he said.

"It feels there's a sense of mission to not only bring one award back, to make sure both the missus and baby are given an award each."

The doting dad also had plans to embellish his outfit with daughter's toys or handkerchief but quickly realised they didn't match. "So I just brought her photos on my phone," he said.

Photos: Mediacorp Photo Unit, 8days

Rewatch Star Awards 2024 below.