Backstage at Star Awards 2025: Zhang Zetong was worried about his breath, Pierre Png made us blush with his outfit - CNA Lifestyle
But of course there's more to the show than what you saw on stage. 8days.sg was right there in the thick of things, watching the stars get all dolled up, secretly memorising their acceptance speeches and snacking on guava, all just to get some exclusive backstage gossip for our readers.
The 48-year-old actress, who received her All-Time Favourite Artiste award on Sunday night, revealed that her black and white polka-dotted dress belonged to her godmother.
"Back in 2014, she told me to wear it if i ever became an All-Time Fave. And at that time, I didn’t think it was possible," Lim said with tears in her eyes.
Desmond Tan was finishing up his protein bar when we approached him.
"One of my friends gave it to me because she knows I'm on a diet for a new show. I'll have to go shirtless for it. That's probably my dinner 'cos I still need some energy for the day," said Tan with a smile.
Guess we will be seeing thirst-traps from him again.
The actor drew many glances when he arrived wearing really short shorts. He later told us he had actually come from a Hyrox team lunch, though that doesn't actually explain why his shorts had to be that short.
Sadly, he didn't allow us to snap a pic of him in the shorts, but he seemed to really like wearing them and even paired them with the black button-up shirt he would wear on the red carpet.
When we told him that he should just strut out in those shorts, he chuckled: “If I really went out looking like that, the missus (Andrea De Cruz) would ask me not to go home tonight!"
While other celebs milled about the hair and make-up area, Jernelle Oh appeared to be stuck in the corner.
The 31-year-old actress, who was already all glammed up by the time 8days.sg arrived at 1pm, said she was told to just wait there for the final touches to be made to her outfit.
But the poor girl ended up being cemented to the spot because her dress was too long and hence "cannot move".
Mirror, mirror on the wall... Every single time the 8days.sg team looked in Zhai Siming's direction, he was staring into a mirror.
When we asked if he had to look at his own reflection whenever he had the chance, he said: "I've lost count [of the number of mirrors I've looked at], but I need to make sure I look good!"
We guess The Most Popular Rising Star winner's best pal that evening was a Fisherman's Friend... you know, the mint.
"I had Subway for lunch and I did not know there were raw onions in it," he laughed.
We caught sight of the 1.75m-tall actress, who was probably 1.8m in her heels, towering over everyone who was interviewing her.
We overheard someone comment: "Wah look at the height difference between Carrie and [the interviewer]."
Wong heard the quip and immediately responded with: "It's okay. Confidence does not come from height."
Well, guess that's easy for her to say, right?
After going around greeting fellow celebs like the social butterfly he is, we espied Jeremy Chan quietly snacking on guava while huddled in the corner of the make-up area.
We later found out he was eating secretly because he was told that no food was allowed.
Hmm, we could've sworn we saw many people snacking. Joanne Peh was even tucking into her lunch box while getting made up!
Is the former Mediacorp actor into vlogging now? That was our first thought when we saw Huang Shinan walking around with his phone in hand, speaking to the camera and occasionally getting a celeb pal to join him for a two-shot.
When we caught up with him, Huang said: "I really treasure this moment. It's my first time being involved in this ceremony, and I want to keep [these videos] for the memories."
It was 1pm then, and Huang, who was already in his red carpet outfit, told us his call time was supposed to be at 1.30pm. He said he showed up earlier so he could fully immerse himself in the vibe and catch up with old friends.
He also said he would find a day to edit the videos, so guess we'll have to stay tuned for the finished product?
This story was originally published in 8Days.
