Singaporean actors Desmond Tan, Romeo Tan and Felicia Chin discuss competition among fellow artistes

The second season of Dishing With Chris Lee draws to a close with Felicia Chin, 39; Romeo Tan, 39; and Desmond Tan, 37, talking about the good ol' times at host Christopher Lee’s kelong.

Something the four stars have in common? They all got their start via Star Search.

Christopher came in second in 1995, while Felicia won the competition in 2003. Desmond was a finalist in 2007, and Romeo placed fourth in 2010 – the same year Felicia’s husband, Jeffrey Xu, was champion.

The parallels in their careers don’t just stop there. Felicia was one of the Seven Princesses of Mediacorp, while Desmond and Romeo were among the Eight Dukes of Caldecott Hill.

“Although the [Seven Princesses] was something created by the media, how did you feel when you were announced as one of them?” Christopher asked Felicia.

“Okay, it’s a pretty title. The good thing about it was that there was a topic of conversation no matter where we went. But the one thing I disliked was that I would be forced to answer questions about how we ranked amongst ourselves. If you said you ranked seven, people would say you’re fake,” said Felicia.

“I feel at times, the competition was unhealthy. I remember there was an incident where we all attended an event for the same show. I dressed up for the event, but later, there was feedback about how I [intentionally] dressed better than another ‘princess’. I became very self-conscious, and wondered if I should dress down. I was only in my 20s, and I didn’t know what to think of it.”

Felicia then said being part of the group meant there wasn’t really a chance for her to develop a relationship with the other six princesses.

It's something she regrets as she believes it’s good to be around colleagues of the same age as they can support each other and she names Chantalle Ng and Carrie Wong, and He Yingying and Bonnie Loo as examples.

When Christopher asked Desmond and Romeo about being a Duke, Romeo joked: “When I first found out about it, I wondered if we were going to form a boy band."

Desmond, on the other hand, had stronger opinions about being part of the group.

“When I heard the news, my first question was 'For what?'. I thought the same thing as Romeo, like, 'Were we going to film a show together?' After that, we were told that we would still be doing our own things separately, but we were just grouped together in the same style as the Seven Princesses,” said Desmond.

“Honestly, I was quite opposed to it back then. I’m very assertive when it comes to my life and my career. I didn’t want to be grouped together with others, in the sense that my career had to operate with a 'template'. We all entered the industry at different times as well, so I was really quite against it.”

Romeo said: “I didn’t dislike being part of the Eight Dukes. We were all at good places in our career, so when we were put together, I felt like we had strength in numbers, and people would know more about us. I was quite happy to be part of it although we didn’t last very long.”

Romeo revealed that of the Eight Dukes, he’s closest to Ian Fang. He was, however, left speechless when Christopher asked who he hated the most.

“Weren’t you and Desmond rivals back then?” pried Christopher.

Desmond quickly stepped in to answer the question. “The rivalry was more of a work rivalry, which was made into a thing by the media," he said.

“So if someone were to be more successful than you, how would you feel about it?” pressed Christopher.

“The me back then would be unhappy. I would think that I could do better, and I would be upset with myself. I’m more competitive by nature,” said Desmond.

It's a sentiment echoed by Romeo. “I think how we feel now is different from how we felt back then. In the past, we were more likely to compare ourselves [with others], like 'Why him?', 'Why does he attract so much attention, not me?'. Things like that,” said Romeo.

“Now that we’re older, if we see any of the Eight Dukes doing well, I’m past that point where I wonder 'Why not me?'. 

“Honestly, Desmond and I don’t chat much. Maybe it was because of all the comparisons in the past. It’s hard to be good friends when you’re always being compared to each other. Now, we’re not in that phase anymore. He has his strengths, and I have mine.”

Desmond agreed with Romeo, saying: “One of my biggest takeaways from today is that I had the opportunity to chat openly with Romeo. Perhaps because we started out as the Eight Dukes, we never had the chance to speak much. Also we had the same image, and often took on similar roles, so there was always a sense of comparison, or competition. But looking back at it, we were never unhappy with each other, we were simply busy with our own careers.”

This story was originally published in 8Days.