No thanks to fellow MediaCorp star Ian Fang, 26, entering the picture as the actress’ top guy pal of the moment and rumoured squeeze.
Now, Lim and Tan, both 29, have reunited on the small screen – as lovers no less – in the new Channel 8 drama The Truth Seekers, which premieres on April 28 at 9pm.
The pair play “cold case investigators” who crack old crime cases that remain unsolved due to lack of evidence and get caught up in a love triangle with a colleague (Yusuke Fukuchi) along the way.
Both Lim and Tan agree that the kissing scenes between them were easier the second time round due to their experience playing a couple in last year’s Channel U drama Second Chance.
Tan told M at the press conference for The Truth Seekers yesterday: “Doing anything for the first time is always foreign. (On Second Chance), it was more awkward because it was the first time.”
Lim added: “The both of us were like, ‘Let’s just get it over and done with in one take’. And we did, thankfully.”
So was Fang jealous that Lim and Tan reconnected on this show?
The China-born actor, who plays a supporting role as a magician-antagonist in one of the cases, scoffed: “You’ve got to be kidding me. We are all good friends. What is there to be jealous about? I am only jealous that they have more chances to do scenes with (Chen) Hanwei (who plays the lead). I have only one scene with him.”
For Lim and Tan, acting lovey-dovey was the least of their worries because they had more challenging scenes to conquer.
Tan admitted to being stressed-out when he needed to sport a bikini for one sequence, adding: “I don’t know what the feedback will be like. Some people might find it distasteful, some might find it funny.”
Lim, who has always wanted to try something action-based, took taekwondo lessons and tackled fight scenes as her character is a taekwondo expert.
She said: “With every (one), I attain a new injury. I am someone with really bad coordination.”
In the spirit of the show’s title, M acts as a “truth seeker” and asks the trio how they cope with truth and lies in real life…
The New Paper, Rebecca Lim’s Instagram, Ian Fang’s Instagram, The Straits Times, MediaCorp
Do you believe in telling the cold hard truth or white lies?
Lim: It depends on the time and person. I have met with a situation where this person betrayed my trust and I’ve learnt from it. In recent years, I’ve been more mindful of who I tell my secrets to. So sometimes when people ask, you don’t have to tell them the whole truth.
Fang: I hate telling white lies. I tell them to my mother so she won’t worry, but I prefer to tell the truth. It is respect. I choose to respect people and tell them my honest opinion, and I hope people will respect me and not avoid the truth.
What is the worst lie you’ve been burned by?
Lim: A close friend said a lot of untrue things about what I did – my work and me as a person. It was hurtful.
Tan: I guess it is more of backstabbing, where one person can act as your best friend but you hear and see otherwise.
Fang: There are a lot of rumours and lies in this industry, but I am immune to it. Previously, I would Google myself, but nowadays I don’t.
There are a lot of people just throwing rubbish (out there), like Ian Fang can’t sing or whatever.
After I sang in (the 2015 Channel 8 drama The Journey: Our Homeland), everybody came onto my social media (platform) and started saying things like ‘go back to your own country’, ‘don’t be an actor’.
They didn’t know that my throat was injured and I’d tried my best. I was filming it at 2am. We kept trying again and again until (I lost my voice).
True or false: I prefer Tan and Fang as a platonic friend than a boyfriend.
Lim: For Desmond, platonic. For Ian, can say I don’t know? (Laughs)
This article was first published on April 13, 2016.
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