'He was hugging me so tightly': Tasha Low left Tyler Ten scared driving jetski at maximum speed

She was having so much fun on the jetski she forgot about her co-star behind.

In the upcoming drama series Hope Afloat, 30-year-old local actress Tasha Low stars as Xilin, a dancer who becomes paralysed waist-down after a jetski accident indirectly caused by her onscreen boyfriend played by Tyler Ten.

During the press conference held on July 15, Tyler said the scene was filmed in Batam and it was his first time on the vehicle. When the cameras weren't rolling, Tasha took over the reins and he called her "quite daring".

In a subsequent interview with AsiaOne, Tasha shared that while filming the scene was difficult for her and Tyler - they had to be under the sun for a long time - she had fun afterwards.

"After we filmed our scene, I asked if I could take over the wheel and then Tyler was like, 'Okay,' and I didn't realise that he was so scared because the waves were very huge," she recalled.

"I just went at maximum speed because I liked the thrill and I forgot that he was behind me. He was hugging me so tightly and I felt so bad because he almost dropped into the water."

In the drama, Xilin avoids dancing after her accident - similar to Tasha's experience with her past as a K-pop idol.

"After I left K-pop, I really did stop dancing from time to time, and I avoided K-pop content on social media. For Xilin as well, after the accident, she closed up herself and avoided dance and anything related to it," she shared.

Tasha was the leader of the South Korean-Singapore girl group Skarf from 2012 to 2014. In 2017, she went on the survival show Idol School and was eliminated, returning to Singapore the following year.

Tasha told us that she relates to Xilin as they are also similar in character.

"She loves to dance and on the outside, is very sweet and nice. But when she's hurting inside, she doesn't show it," she said.

In the drama, Xilin meets para swimmer Tianqing (Chantalle Ng) and regains the courage to embark on her new journey in life. She attempts swimming and picks up dancing again, this time in a wheelchair.

Tasha recalled that it only took about a day for her to get used to the mobility device: "We went to a workshop... It was quite easy to handle the wheelchair. We had to learn how to go down and up the slope safely."

While dancing and moving around in a wheelchair was the "easiest part of the show" for her, she struggled with the swimming portion.

"In real life, I don't swim very often, but when I do it's just for leisure… I think it was more difficult to swim than to dance in a wheelchair because I couldn't use my legs to swim. You just feel like you're not moving. It's a lot of arm strength," she said.

We asked about the message she hopes viewers will take away from Hope Afloat and she replied: "To treat persons with disabilities just like everyone else. I hope that this drama gives people the insights of how they live their daily lives.

"They are just like us, they have dreams, which they are able to realise with hard work and effort."

Hope Afloat, which also stars Desmond Ng, Grace Teo, Zhang Zetong, Guo Liang, Cynthia Koh and Kym Ng, premieres July 30 and airs weekdays 9pm on Channel 8. It will also be available on demand for free on Mewatch from July 29.

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syarifahsn@asiaone.com

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