Rui En had her hands firmly clasped over Dennis Chew’s hand, when the presenters were announcing the Top 10 Most Popular Male Artiste winners, at Sunday night’s Star Awards 2016 Part 2. She enthusiastically cheered for Dennis, too, when his name was announced and promptly pulled him in to plant a victory kiss on his cheek.
The ‘Fang siblings’ and crowd favourite duo’s camaraderie was captured on national television, and during Dennis’ backstage interview with Toggle, after they were announced the Toggle Most Beloved Celebrity BFF award winner, Dennis shed light on his interactions with Rui En.
“I don’t know if the entire process was recorded but she grabbed my hand and never let go. When she felt my cold hands, she said: “Kor! You’re really nervous!”… And she pulled me in closer to feel her body warmth,” he shared, “When my name was announced, Rui En said: ‘It’s you, it’s you!’ She was even more ecstatic than me.”
Rui En had left after the awards ceremony and was absent at the post-party event as her gastric problem acted up again. Her gastric problem was exacerbated by stress from recent events and she had puked “literally walking in front of the audience” and “a lot of people saw me vomit into my hands”, said Rui En, in a note clarifying her absence which was posted on RBKD’s website.
Explaining that her early departure from the event was “not a matter of being angry at Pornsak’s shade or not winning Best Actress,” she added, “I wanted to face the press and face the music. I am so happy for Jeanette (Aw) [for winning Best Actress Award].”
During his interview, Dennis also added that Rui En arrived at the venue for hair and make-up already looking pale and sickly. “After make-up you can’t tell that she’s unwell, but she’s really not feeling well,” he said.
The host added that Rui En wanted to meet him backstage, before the show began, but when he went to find her at the hair and make-up unit, she was in the midst of changing into her outfit. When they finally met backstage, he said that she had ran to him and enveloped him in a big hug. “That is a very important hug to me. It represented encouragement and good luck from her and my hug to her is to wish her happiness.”
When Rui En was notified about her Toggle BFF win, which is determined by 100 per cent online votes, with Dennis, she said through her manager: “Thank you to my fans, RBKD, for giving me this award. Thank you for your hard work. I’m very grateful to all of you; I will continue working hard to present even better works to everyone.”
“I think in such a sensitive period, regardless of what award [was won], it is all a form of encouragement to Rui En,” said Dennis, during his winner’s interview, “I’m sure she’s very touched too, for the both of us to win the Toggle Most Beloved Celebrity BFF award.
“A lot of people support the ‘Fang siblings’ since The Dream Makers 1 and it really feels like we’re siblings in real life. We do chat on an almost daily basis and while I can’t reveal what we talk about, we do say ‘I love you’ to each other. I really love her as a younger sister and she loves me as an elder brother.”