In the first part of her interview on Quan Yi Fong's "Hear U Out", Felicia Chin disclosed her past unhealthy relationship with food and collaborative experience with Pierre Png.
The conversation with Quan continued in the second part of the episode with 36-year-old Chin divulging more about her five-year relationship with fellow actor, Jeffrey Xu, 32.
Screenshot via meWATCH.
Taking it slow
When Quan probed into what she liked about Xu, Chin hemmed and hawed, "He's very simple. Of course, there are times when he's not simple," drawing laughter from Quan.
Chin added, "He knows what he wants but his heart is very innocent."
Quan followed up with a question about marriage plans, to which Chin replied, "Not yet. Of course, we are hoping to discuss marriage plans within the next one to two years."
The actress candidly disclosed that both of them are still trying to understand each other and work out some problems between themselves, citing communication as one of them.
Chin shared that they are still working on the relationship to better prepare themselves for marriage.
"We are increasingly more accepting of each other's differences, ignorance, and vulnerabilities. As we both regard marriage as very important, we hope it will be a life-long commitment, that's why we are spending a little more time on it."
How they got together
Chin could not seem to remember how they went public, but suggested with a laugh that it was most likely Xu's doing.
The actress revealed that they first started chatting more after she gave him some words of encouragement about his acting.
Chin had acted with Xu, who played one of her boyfriends in 2015 television series "Life - Fear Not".
She disclosed, "At that time, I hadn't liked him. I just wanted to encourage him because I felt that he played the role well and he appreciated it."
Chin then shared another anecdote that brought the two closer together:
"One day, it was raining heavily during one of my afternoon shoots so we couldn't shoot. An image suddenly appeared in my head. It had an Eiffel Tower and the both of us were happily taking pictures. I wondered why as I never pictured such an image before. I had the inclination to call him and the moment he picked up, he said, 'You know, I'm at Tanglin Mall. I closed my eyes, and this image appeared in my mind. I saw us in front of the Eiffel Tower, we were very happy, taking pictures and drinking coffee.' I had not told him about my vision. So I replied, 'Huh, how could this be? I just had the same image in my head a few minutes ago.' We just laughed it off."
Screenshot via meWATCH.
In the interview, Chin also recounted two incidents that happened during Star Awards 2016 that made her really exasperated with Xu.
The hug at Star Awards 2016
The Star Awards 2016 marked the first time Xu went up on stage to receive an award.
According to Chin, they were already together at that time, but did not officially announce it.
"Both of us felt that it was still the early stage of the relationship and we knew that we would receive a lot of attention if we made it public. We agreed to focus on developing the relationship first," she explained.
She expected people might ask either of them questions during the annual Star Awards.
Hence, she asked him how he'd handle it so that they could standardise their answers "to be fair to each other."
They eventually agreed on saying something along the lines of "We are still getting to know each other," Chin said in the interview.
Xu subsequently asked Chin, “If I win an award, can I come over and hug you?”
The actress told Quan that "if it was a natural reaction of happiness", she "didn't wish to restrict him", and so she replied Xu, "Okay, whatever, it's normal. If it comes naturally and you want to hug me, okay."
Much to Chin's surprise, Xu really won the award.
However, the hug did not happen in the manner that Chin expected.
When Xu's name was announced as one of the Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes, Xu got up from his seat, walked down the stairs and spotted Chin. He then stood in front of her with his arms outstretched, waiting for her to hug him.
Caption translates to "Give me a hug". Screenshot via meWATCH.
Chin shared that she was shocked that he wanted her to go over to hug him instead of him coming over to hug her.
But she couldn't let him "lose face" so she stood up and hugged him.
While everyone was gushing over the romantic gesture, Chin was exasperated by his act and exclaimed, "He sabo-ed me!".
Quan was already bursting into laughter while listening to Chin who animatedly shared these behind-the-scenes.
But that's not all.
Xu's reply to the question about their relationship
After Xu received the award, her manager came over to inform her that reporters wanted to interview them and asked if she would like to do it together. She agreed and believed it'll be better to take questions from the press together with Xu.
As anticipated, the reporters asked Xu, "How's your relationship with Felicia coming along?"
Contrary to what the couple had agreed on, the Xu went completely off-script and replied, "I’ve told her that I really like her. I’m waiting for her answer now."
Chin told Quan that she was "so angry" hearing Xu's reply as it caught her off guard.
Standing next to him at that time, she was thinking, "What is that? What are you saying? What reply are you waiting for?"
Naturally, the reporters turned to Chin and asked when she would be giving him an answer. However, since they were already seeing each other, Chin wasn't sure what answer she was supposed to give him.
Chin later clarified the situation with Xu, who reportedly replied, "Aiya, sorry, I was too happy! It was my first time winning an award! I was too happy, I didn't know what I was saying."
Chin subsequently expressed her frustration of receiving comments like "Aiya, Felicia Chin, why don't you give him a chance? He's so sweet. He even opened his arms for a hug. Why won't you accept him?"
"This is why we need five years. I need to understand him," the actress remarked with a sigh during the interview with Quan.
Marriage pressure
As the couple has been dating for quite some years, Chin admitted that she felt stressed to a certain extent with regard to romance, career, marriage, and parenthood.
She expressed her slight discomfort at hearing comments about her age, the urgency for her to get hitched, and her biological clock.
However, Chin explained that the both of them take their relationship very seriously and feel that they need a better foundation before moving to the next stage.
Chin disclosed that Xu's father came to Singapore when Xu was away, and asked her when she wanted to get married and give him a grandchild.
"I didn't know how to answer him, but also didn't want to give an empty promise."
Chin said the words of family members have a greater influence on her and confirmed that she eventually wants to have a family with children.
Top images via meWATCH.