Aching muscles, ‘a block of wood’: Zoe Tay does wheelchair dance for President’s Star Charity

Now that her three boys are older — Brayden is 16, Ashton 14, and Nathan 11 — local actress Zoe Tay, 53, has been allocating more time for herself and work.

Late last year, she surprised some of us when she picked up skateboarding with TV host Vivian Lai. In an Instagram post then, she said it was something she had always wanted to learn. She added in a hashtag: “You are a bit stronger than you think.”

Zoe has been getting physical and is an avid hiker and cyclist these days.

She told AsiaOne previously that she recently tried cycling around the island using the park connectors and finds it very fun. One night, she and her husband even rode over 60km from Bukit Timah to Bedok and back to Bukit Timah.

Another time, she cycled with her girlfriend from Bukit Timah to Coney Island, East Coast, Marina Bay Sands and back to Bukit Timah. After that, she went cycling again, covering a total distance of 80km in one day.

Yet, her great stamina and fitness levels couldn’t fully prepare her for her performance in this Sunday’s (Oct 10) President’s Star Charity televised show.

Ah Jie will be doing a wheelchair dance with actor Zhang Zetong, and also a solo routine with 15-year-old beneficiary Jeremiah Liauw.

In reply to AsiaOne’s questions about her performance on Wednesday (Oct 6), Zoe said: “I think my fitness routine does help me with my stamina. But with dancing, there are certainly some muscles that are not used during my exercises so those were aching slightly for a while after rehearsals!”

She added: “I think it was quite tough to properly synchronise with everyone and remember all the steps as it is a fairly long routine, so it’s definitely challenging.”

She also told Lianhe Zaobao that she breaks into a big sweat during rehearsals even though the pacing of the dance isn’t considered fast.

“We need to twirl in the ballet segment and when I spin, I end up at another spot and I forget my moves. When the others do it, they look so graceful and light. Instead, I feel like a spinning block of wood!”

Still, she’s having fun in the preparations because everyone is working well together and putting in their best efforts for a charitable cause.

Besides Zoe and Zetong, other performers in the show include Mandopop queen Stefanie Sun, British singer-songwriter Calum Scott, Malaysian girl group Dolla, Taufik Batisah, celebrity couple Benjamin Kheng and Naomi Yeo, and Stephen Zechariah.

It will be hosted by Rebecca Lim and Nurul Aini.

Zoe will soon start work on her new drama You Can Be An Angel 4, where she plays a community leader. Her latest drama The Heartland Hero is now showing on Channel 8 and meWATCH.

President’s Star Charity 2021 will be shown live on Channel 5, meWATCH, and Mediacorp Entertainment YouTube channel on Sunday Oct 10 from 7.30pm. Members of the public are encouraged to donate by scanning via their bank apps a PayNow QR code that will be available on mediacorp.sg/psc2021 and flashed on-screen during the show, or through giving.sg/psc2021.