“How Can I Smile At You When I’m Lifting Weights?”: Zoe Tay, Guo Liang, Ben Yeo On The Worst Reactions They Got After Rejecting Strangers Asking For Pics

Are celebs really as ‘stuck-up’ and ‘arrogant' as some netizens claim? This is what Zoe Tay, 55, Guo Liang, 54, and Ben Yeo, 44 have to say about that in the brand-new The Zoe and Liang Show.

Ah Jie and Guo Liang are teaming up in this new podcast show, where they invite celebs on to chat and unearth new tidbits and anecdotes about their lives.

The first episode features Ben, who readily shared more about his side hustles, and even debunked the myth that celebs earn a lot of money.

Watch F&B towkay Ben reveal why the food he sells is so ‘expensive’ in the full video here. Our story continues below.

Apart from that, the trio also talked about a few ‘memorable’ encounters with members of the public.

Guo Liang kicked things off first, bringing up the untold pressures that celebs face when dealing with fans.

“You have to oblige anytime someone asks for a photo,” he said, before going on to share a bad experience fellow host Kym Ng once had.

At that time, Kym was at the airport with her family, and was “crying buckets [of tears]” while sending off her brother who was flying overseas.

“Someone asked for a photo as she walked out,” Guo Liang said, adding: “Kym is very friendly and usually obliges, [but] her eyes were swollen that day.”

Therefore, Kym attempted to reject the guy, telling him that she wasn’t “in a good condition” that day, only for the guy to retort that he thinks Kym looks fine.

Ben then shared his own experience, revealing that he was spotted at the gym, and accused of being “arrogant”.

“That person didn’t ask me for a photo together, I realised [that he saw me at the gym] when I saw his social media post,” Ben recalled.

He added that the person went on to describe Ben as being “arrogant”, commenting that when he smiled at Ben, Ben “didn't smile back” at him.

“How can I smile at you when I’m lifting weights?” Ben asked incredulously.

Finally, Zoe chimed in to share a similar encounter she had. According to Zoe, this happened when she was younger, and at an indoor playground with her kids. Inevitably, someone recognised Zoe, and asked her for a picture.

However, she apologised and declined his request, as she was bare-faced, and didn’t look too good at that time.

“And there were so many people present, they’d crowd around [if I agreed to take a photo together], so I refused,” Zoe explained.

Unfortunately, the person was really ticked off at Zoe’s refusal. After getting rejected, he walked back to the other side of the indoor playground, all while grumbling loudly about Zoe’s behaviour.

"[He started complaining] 'So what?' I almost lost my mind. And he got louder and louder," said Zoe, with Ben adding that the man probably wanted Zoe to hear it. 

"Yes, he did it intentionally. And it spread across the indoor playground," sighed Ah Jie.

“I hope people can understand that sometimes, we’re not at our best, and this is our personal time, where we don’t want to be interrupted,” Zoe said.

Thankfully, it appears that most people are nice when their request for a photo together is rejected.

“Usually Singaporeans understand when you speak nicely, they’re okay with it,” Zoe concluded.

Photos: Mediacorp Entertainment/YouTube