PUBLISHED ONMay 24, 2024 9:26 AMByYeo Shu HuiWhile viewers may expect to see Christopher Lee whip up home-cooked dishes in a kelong (offshore platform) in the latest season of talk show Dishing with Chris Lee, the primary focus is not actually the food.
"Cooking is not the main dish," the 52-year-old actor said in a press conference back in January for the show, which starts next Monday (May 27).
Instead, the objective is to introduce kampung life and allow the audience to reminisce on memories of living away from the buzzing city.
In the latest season of the show, Christopher chats with celebrity guests including Taiwanese singer-actor Tony Sun from 5566, local celebs Kym Ng, Richard Low and Xiang Yun about their life, career and aspirations for the future over food.
Christopher shared that another important goal of the show is to allow audiences to see a different side of the guest artistes.
He said: "Audiences may sometimes have a lot of preconceptions, both good or bad, about artistes. I want them to see that we are just like them.
"Outside of acting, our lives are the same in many ways, such as the situations we have to deal with... and how we spend time with our families. We want the guests to talk about these things, so that the audiences can know them better."
Christopher pointed out that he is very happy to see veteran local actors Chen Shucheng, Aileen Tan and Xiang Yun joining the show and sharing their stories.
"A lot of people in Singapore know them [as actors], but less is known about them beyond the screen. Some of them have become grandparents, while some of them are half-retired, but they are still very passionate about their work."
The three-time Golden Bell award-winning actor shared that they all "had a great time", and there was plenty to chat about.
"Xiang Yun spoke about her current situation, her aspirations for the future and also about her children," he added.
The first season of Dishing with Chris Lee won Best Factual Entertainment Programme For a Single Market in Asia at the regional ContentAsia Awards in 2022. At Star Awards 2023, the show also won Best Entertainment Programme and Christopher bagged his first Best Programme Host award.
With these recognitions, he was asked if he felt pressured to present the show better in the upcoming season.
"I am really not stressed about it. This show is meant to be presented in a casual manner," he expressed.
Speaking to AsiaOne in a separate interview, Christopher shared that the guests who were invited to his show this season were mostly people he knew personally and had chatted with before.
Some of his guests he had only met once or never before, such as DJs, including Yes 933 DJs Hazelle Teo, Jeff Goh and Gao Meigui, and social media influencers such as Xiao Ming and Xenia Tan. But it wasn't an issue, because Christopher knew how to break the ice quickly.
"It's my habit and it's the same when I am filming a new drama… I open up to people first by greeting them. I think we need to be proactive. If not, it may be slower to get things going," he said.
Christopher also said that as the concept of the show is to spread positivity and for his guests to feel comfortable and enjoy themselves, he holds back when it comes to asking the tough questions.
He expressed: "I am not looking to dig into their background or discuss topics that would make them feel awkward. I would speak to them comfortably and naturally. If they want to talk about it, they can. If not, we can skip. My purpose of inviting them to the show is to allow them to relax.
"I want to introduce things I like to the guests and see if they like it too. When they are here, I cook for them and we chat over food, that's it."
The second season of Dishing With Chris Lee, which consists of eight episodes, will be available on demand for free on mewatch from May 27 and premieres on the same day on Channel 8 at 8pm.
You can also catch season one of the show on mewatch now.
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