"It's Not Like We Took Off Our Clothes": Terence Cao To Netizens Who Called Him "Gross" For Hugging His Female Co-Hosts On Live Stream

Live streamers these days really have to come up with all sorts of gimmicks to capture the attention of viewers. 

Former Mediacorp actor Terence Cao is no exception.

Just last week, the 55-year-old star, who co-founded e-commerce platform Sibay Shiok with ex-Mediacorp actress Dawn Yeoh, 37, made headlines when he wrapped his arms around Dawn during a live stream. It quickly sparked rumours that they are dating. 

Dawn and Terence later clarified in a live stream that they are not an item. At a press conference for upcoming movie King of Hawkers on last Friday (Sep 29), Dawn reiterated in an interview that what they did was a gimmick to get people to view their live stream.

She also insisted that she sees Terence only "as a brother". 

It appears this 'publicity stunt' is Terence's modus operandi. 

On Sat (Sep 30), the actor did a live stream session with a lady boss of a beauty company in Malacca.

At the start of the live stream, Terence was seen hugging the woman from behind, his head resting intimately on hers.

Netizens did not like that at all.

"Why do you keep taking advantage of women?," questioned one netizen while another chided: "Gross! Don't you have other sale tactics?"

Terence explained his side of the story in a separate live stream in Malacca the next day. 

He said: "The lady boss asked me how I want to do the live stream. I said 'let us do something [special]' because we need to entertain and bring joy to the audience. We're not just marketers, we're actors, so we will have such plots during the live stream."

Terence, however, acknowledged that it's not really a bad thing that people have so much to say about what he did.

"It's good too. At least it's creating hype for people to talk about.  If I do live streams every day but there's no talking point, that's not right either," he added. 

The actor did clap back at his haters though.

"We were just hugging. It's not like we took off our clothes! If we did then that's not acceptable. We hugged merely so that there's something for people to talk about," he asserted.

"My understanding is, when they saw me hugging Dawn Yeoh, they congratulated us because they like Dawn Yeoh. But when they saw me hugging someone they don't know, they got angry," he added.

See what happened during the live stream below: 

Photos: Sibay Shiok/Facebook

Catch Terence in Last Madame: Sisters of the Night on meWATCH here.