Zoe Tay, Pan Lingling & Guo Liang Name Their Good Friends In Showbiz; Guess Who Doesn’t Have Any?

What is your definition of a good friend?

On the second episode of The Zoe and Liang Show, hosts Zoe Tay, 55, and Guo Liang, 54, were joined by Zoe’s pal, Pan Lingling, 52.

The trio talked about their friendships in showbiz, and discussed the qualities that makes someone a good friend, rather than, you know, just a regular friend or a colleague.

Lingling first revealed she has more than five good friends in the industry, naming Zoe, Aileen Tan, Chew Chor Meng, Huang Biren as well as former actress and 1990 Star Search contestant, Liang Ya Yu.

“Actually I have many other [good friends]. There’s still Xiang Yun and [Chen] Liping,” Lingling continued.

“Are you afraid of offending people if you forget to add them [to the list]?” asked Guo Liang.

Lingling's reply? “Yes, I will feel that way. But I also think that there are friends that we don’t meet or think of every day, but after some time, you’ll go like ‘Eh I really miss them’."

Zoe then turned the question to Guo Liang, asking if he has any friends in the industry.

The host coolly replied: “No I don’t. If I [have to name one] I would say Quan Yifeng. The reason I don’t count my showbiz friends is because I feel like friends are friends, aside from that, those who aren’t my friends are not my enemies either. So I don’t feel like I will offend anyone if I don’t name them in a list. For example, people like Kym Ng or Bryan Wong.”

He then pointed out how Lingling and Zoe seemed to be quite bothered about naming people as they are afraid of offending those they left out.

When Zoe named Chen Hanwei as her close friend in showbiz, Guo Liang was quick to interrupt and ask if she was “only going to name one person”.

Zoe fumbled to explain herself, and she and Lingling simultaneously pointed at Guo Liang, seemingly accusing him of putting them on the spot.

“I think men and women view the definition of good friends differently. So you spoke about really good friends, and there are a lot of people in showbiz who care for us, and if you ask me if I regard them as a best friend, I don’t know. But I know we really care for each other. With this relationship, I don’t know if they can be considered good friends,” explained Lingling.

She named Jin Yinji as an example, saying that they really care for each other, but she wouldn’t really consider the latter as a good friend either.

She also said that Biren and her are like sisters who both got to know each other when they were just 17.

“So we’re past the stage of friends but then you’re asking me about good friends, and I can’t leave her out,” said Lingling, who then trailed off while commending, sarcastically we must say, Guo Liang for confusing them.

Guo Liang then posed this question: “So what exactly defines a good friend in this industry?”

For Lingling it's someone she can “open up her heart to”, like her friends from secondary school.

Guo Liang named a criteria he once heard, saying that a good friend is a person you can call at 3am, and someone you can borrow money from anytime.

Zoe tried to delve deeper into Guo Liang’s “no good friends” mindset, asking: “You and Yifeng have been [working together] since you both started in showbiz, up until others started acknowledging you both as the “Best Hosting Duo”. You have nothing to talk to her about? Does she not regard you as a friend?”

“We do have things that we talk about. Yifeng can have heart-to-heart talks with me,” he answered.

“Yifeng can call me at 3am, no problem. She can talk to me about anything at any time, but the crux of the matter is that we don’t intentionally look for each other to speak about private matters. She has a lot of people she can go to,” he continued.

“So you feel bothered by how you’re not the only one [she goes to]?” said Zoe with a chuckle.

“No. I mean that if I want to find a listening ear, I don’t have to specifically look for Yifeng. And we don’t meet all that often. Sometimes we don’t even see each other for a year. We don’t meet and interact in private unless it is at a work setting. I also agree that we were paired up for work at a very young age. If we met 10 years later, we might not have the relationship that we do today,” Guo Liang reasoned.

Photos: Mediacorp/ YouTube, meWATCH

If you want to find out more about why the trio thinks it's important for close friendships to be cultivated at a younger age, you can watch The Zoe and Liang Show below.