While Nick Teo is happy about his actress wife Hong Ling’s success in local showbiz, there was a period of time when he felt affected by it.
The 36-year-old local actor was a guest in the latest episode of Jeanette Aw’s YouTube talk show JA Unscripted released on May 31, where the latter asked how he felt when the media kept asking him questions about Hong Ling while interviewing him.
He revealed: “I felt that I am also an artiste after all and hoped they would ask about me. But I also understand that on the other hand, I had no news value. So even if they interviewed me, I had nothing to offer, you know?”
Nick also shared that during a period when he faced pressure at work, he would bring it home and Hong Ling, 31, is his best person to confide in.
“However, I was negative to the point that even she was a bit afraid to talk to me about [our careers]. Because whatever I said was negative,” he said.
He admitted that at the time, Hong Ling’s career was on the rise, and as she received more and better roles, he felt “bitter” and that it was “unfair”.
While he believed more viewers recognise him now after his first leading role as Guan Junsheng in Shero (2023) and as Zhang Yaozu in Emerald Hill — The Little Nyonya Story (2025), they still didn’t know his name. Nick and Jeanette also acted together in local drama Highway to Somewhere, which aired in March.
He recalled: “They would say, ‘Hey, you are that person, Hong Ling’s husband!'” Then I would say, ‘Yes, I’m Hong Ling’s husband!’
“I used to take it to heart a bit in the past. But now I think it’s actually quite nice; I’m indeed her husband so it’s okay. That’s also one way for them to recognise me. I just need to work harder, maybe they will be able to really call me by my name then.”
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Overcoming career anxiety
Nick, who tied the knot with Hong Ling in 2023, also spoke about his career anxiety with Jeanette, revealing he had thought about quitting around a decade into his time in showbiz.
He used to worry about people’s impressions of him but has slowly learnt to let it go, especially after reflecting on it at the point he thought of leaving.
He shared: “I’ve been in the industry for quite a long time, about 11 or 12 years. I hadn’t got a leading role at that time. A lot of people were telling me, and I heard things like, if I hadn’t gotten a lead role then it’s unlikely I ever will.
“At the time, I felt quite discouraged. I also thought that maybe it was true.”
Before he received his first leading role in Shero, he had always felt he was capable of playing the main character.
But he realised his flaws during filming: “I saw my own performance and I just thought, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m not up to it. I’m not good enough.'”
He added as a leading character with more scenes in the drama, he felt his acting wasn’t “steady” enough and that he was perhaps not ready for it.
Together with other factors and things he had heard from people around him, Nick thought it was time to give up.
After filming Shero, he didn’t have any acting opportunities for six months and took the time to try different things, including interior design.
“During that period, I also went on backpacking trips and all that and kept searching for myself. I was feeling a bit lost. A lot of people kept giving me their opinions, which caused me to lose my own personality and thoughts,” Nick shared.
“So in that half a year, I experienced a process where I slowly learnt how not to care about what others think of me and instead look out for myself a bit more.”
He added that these reflections helped him to curb his anxiety and stress when he went for casting auditions, helping him to play the characters more naturally and ultimately earned the role of Zhou Chongliang in Furever Yours (2024).
Nick and Hong Ling will be seen next in local crime dramas No Other Way and In His Hands, which are expected to premiere in July and September respectively.
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yeo.shuhui@asiaone.com
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