‘I was crying every day in my car’: Gurmit Singh on dealing with his parents’ death at height of his career

While Gurmit Singh is known for being a happy-go-lucky funny man, there was a time where the 59-year-old struggled to keep a smile on his face.

During an interview with The Daily Ketchup, Gurmit shared that the period between 2001 and 2003 was the toughest part of his career, as both his parents had passed.

Gurmit’s mother died of cancer in 2001, and his father passed away in 2003.

“When you’re a comedian, people expect you to [tell jokes all the time], but I couldn’t, I was very down,” he said.

Although he was still able to perform in front of the camera, he’d become reclusive the moment the job was done.

“I was crying every day in my car, whether it was going to work or going home.”

That same year, Gurmit also won the ATV award, and received his second Star Award for the Top 10 Most Popular Male Artiste.

He then used this as an opportunity to inform audiences about his father’s death.

He said he felt the need to announce it because of an experience he had while his mother was in the hospital two years before.

He recounted the chief nurse calling him outside of his mother’s ward to ask if they could take a photo with him and get his autograph.

“I stood there for an eternity, and I looked at her and said, ‘Do you really want my autograph now? My mother’s dying.'”

Gurmit also had to forcefully chase away paparazzi who turned up during both his parents’ funerals.

He had to snatch the camera away from the paparazzi, and yelled at them to leave.

“People are used to me being so easy going, but I had to show them this was not Gurmit the entertainer, this was Gurmit the real person.”

Spending New Year’s Eve with family

After choosing to become a part-timer with Mediacorp in 2014, Gurmit shared that he was finally able to spend New Year’s Eve with his family.

As a full-time artiste previously, he would only reach home at about 2 or 3am on New Years’ Day after hosting the countdown show.

Things were different on December 31, 2014, as he was on a plane with his family from the Artic Circle to Amsterdam.

“We stood in the [plane] aisle, and I hugged them and said, ‘Happy new year.’ And we just enjoyed that moment.”