During Kym’s appearance on Mediacorp talk show The Inner Circle, host Guo Liang pointed out that going nude is something that he and many others find very uncharacteristic of the 53-year-old.

So why did she do it?

“I’d already agreed to do the album, and I was told that [going topless] was the concept for the cover ‘cos nobody knew me and my talent was modest, so there had to be a way to attract attention and get people to listen to my songs,” she explained.

However, she did bring up one condition for the shoot: the studio had to be cleared out, with only the female photographer and a few key female staff allowed inside.

Kym went on to release two more albums, but alas, she didn’t hit it as big as she had hoped.

“I thought I’d be rich as a singer, but after I became one, I wondered why I wasn’t famous and why I wasn’t making any money!” she laughed.

Other than the S$100 she received for each song she recorded, she didn’t have a monthly salary and took on singing gigs at dinner-and-dance events or TV shows for some income.

A few years after her first album was released, Kym made her acting debut in 1995’s Strange Encounters III as a courtesan, a role that was originally meant for former actress Margaret Lee before she fell and had to pull out of the drama.

As it turns out, it involved a bit of baring of skin as well for a bathing scene. Kym quipped that the production team probably cast her ‘cos they saw her relatively racy album cover and thought, “Wow, this singer could do it!”

Before long, the multi-hyphenate started dipping her toes in the variety scene.

Veteran producer Man Shu Sum, who appeared as the first mystery guest, gave Kym her first hosting gig in City Beat as a temporary three-month replacement for former actress He Yongfang.

Of course, as we all know by now, Kym ended up sticking around for a lot longer than that, but while her career flourished, she hit a low point when she was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism in 2000, which she previously opened up about on Hear U Out.

“One of my eyes was bulging out and looked bigger than the other ‘cos there was fluid pushing it out from behind. I felt like I was disfigured!” she recalled.

What’s more, Kym said that the illness made her very irritable, and that she would often get into fights with her husband over minor issues. “Before I left the house, I would tell him to stop talking to me ‘cos I had to go to work and could not cry anymore. That wasn’t an easy period.”

Another health-related (well, sort of) story came up when Kym’s former City Beat co-hosts Bryan Wong and Lina Ng showed up as the final surprise guests of the day (the second was Pierre Png).

“When she joined showbiz, she was missing a few teeth,” Bryan revealed. “Since she thought that made her sound breathy, she got braces, and I thought that showed how professional she was ‘cos the braces were on the inside of her teeth, so they kept brushing against her tongue and giving her blisters.”

Kym confirmed this condition of hers, saying that she was actually missing 10 of her lower teeth. “So I wore braces to pull [my teeth] further apart and insert new teeth.”

Watch Kym Ng’s full episode of The Inner Circle here.

The Inner Circle airs Wednesdays at 8pm on Ch 8. Episodes are also available on demand for free on meWATCH.

Photos: meWATCH, Kym Ng/Instagram, The Celebrity Agency/Instagram