'Gossiping isn't a bad word': Bling Empire's Kane Lim on criticism, says being on show has been 'healing process'

Ever since the second season of Bling Empire was released on Netflix, fans of the show haven't been too pleased with Singaporean cast member Kane Lim, who was called out for gossiping and throwing his friends under the bus. 

Kane, 32, addressed the topic during a recent interview with AsiaOne, remarking that he doesn't think it's a big deal. 

"I actually Googled the word 'gossip', it means idle talk. The entire show is idle talk, right? It's a show where we're talking about our feelings. You know, people don't want to talk about me with my cat, right?," he said. 

"This entire show is gossip. So I don't think there's anything wrong with idle talk, because it's also a national hobby to have lunch and idle talk. Gossiping is not a bad word, right?" 

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The real estate developer also talked about how gaining recognition from the show has been a healing process for him, as someone who grew up overweight. 

Kane explained: "Every time I take a picture with someone, it heals me in that way because I grew up very insecure. [Others ask me], 'Why do you bother taking pictures with everyone?' I feel like it's also my healing process. Because maybe 10 years ago, who wanted to take pictures with me, a kid who was overweight?

"So now every time I have a meet-and-greet, it heals me in a very special way... I felt that the show has healed me in a lot of ways that I haven't really talked about until now." 

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Kane added that he weighed 100kg in his younger days, which caused him to have a lot of insecurities, something which his family's wealth couldn't resolve. 

"[The wealth] doesn't matter, you are still affected inside and you're still made fun of. But the fact now is that I have this amazing platform," he said.

"I'm so grateful for Netflix and also the partnership with Rihanna. It really means a lot to be comfortable on camera, to be able to take pictures with people. It's really a special thing that I don't take for granted." 

In May, Kane was selected as the ambassador for Rihanna's beauty line Fenty Beauty, and is the first Southeast Asian to be given this opportunity. 

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Besides building his confidence on camera, Kane also shared that he's found other ways of taking care of himself that don't include shopping. 

Ever since converting to Buddhism four years ago, Kane tries to meditate every day, and visits monasteries and temples to "find some solitude" whenever he has time to spare. 

And with regard to whatever he said on the show, Kane said he has no regrets. 

"We shot for three months, I would love the audience to watch the whole three months to be able to get a bigger sense of what happened. But I can't control anything, there's nothing that I regret saying. In fact, everything I did I would do it again, because I protect my friends and especially in the show with Kim." 

ALSO READ: Bling Empire's Kevin might lose his fancy new apartment if 'this year doesn't go so well'

Bling Empire season two is now streaming on Netflix.

claudiatan@asiaone.com