The jovial mood continues when we talk about how he felt about not winning Best Actor and Top 10 Most Popular Male Artiste at the recent Star Awards.
Richie says he has not thought much about it.
“Last year was a good year for me and I cannot be greedy every time,” he laughs.
“An award is a bonus and of course getting it lets people know I have achieved something. But if I am in this business only wanting to win such recognition, then I am probably going in the wrong direction,” he says.
However, Richie admits he knows his fans were disappointed and shares that some have told him they will try harder next year to get him a Top 10 Most Popular award.
At this point, we were almost convinced that nothing can faze Richie…
… Until we broach the topic of his love life.
Save for thanking his “lover” during his Best Actor acceptance speech at last year’s Star Awards and revealing on a radio programme that he’s seeing someone, Richie has never verbally admitted to dating local actress Hayley Woo.
Hayley seemingly confirmed the pair are an item in February this year.
In fact, during our chat, Richie squirms uncomfortably in the Gold Class plush seat as this writer asks how his relationship with Hayley is doing.
“Umm… I’m good,” he replies before shooting us a tight smile.
“I’m” but not “We”?
When we probe further on what she thought about his role in A Good Child, he strangely repeats his “I’m good” response before saying, “I think the whole of Singapore knows about me taking up this role”.
He then hurriedly pivots to how he now must “convince” his parents about playing a drag queen.
“I will need to help open their minds and get them to accept more lovable people,” he says.
“With 377A already repealed, they will also need to move along with the times and catch up with me,” he adds.
Catch Richie in Cash On Delivery on mewatch.
This story was originally published in 8Days.
