Star Gazing

Greetings and salutations, fellow stargazers! This is your Showbiz Sista getting jumpy with the cast of Channel U’s latest drama, Jump! It stars Jeanette Aw and Zhang Zhen Huan in what they hope will be breakout roles: They play wacky teachers to a bunch of students who train to enter a national jump rope competition. Along with a young cast including Edwin Goh, Phua Yida, Justin Peng and Jayley Woo, Jeanette and Zhen Huan are getting hopped up on jumping rope!

Jump stars Zhang Zhen Huan, Jeanette Aw and Ng Hui.

This one’s for the young ‘uns, and yes, not forgetting you, the “young at heart”

Jayley and Edwin

“I’m happy that people will get to see me differently,” Jeanette said. ”I think it’s good that people can see that I can be happy too, and that I can be funny too. This character is quite similar to what I am. On my own, on a personal level with friends and all that, I like to play. I like to joke around. I like to do funny things with my friends. Even when we’re outside at cafes and all that, I can laugh really loudly. Everyone will be looking at me but I don’t care. I think that’s something that nobody has really seen. I think all along they’ve always seen me as someone very serious, very prim and proper, and like, she’s someone very tragic. (Actually) I’m fine with anything, even if it means that when I’m acting I have no image at all. If I look really silly or if I have to embarrass myself – I’m okay with that.”

Zhen Huan, who  used to jump rope for the sake of losing weight but never took it up in earnest until this show, is now a bona fide convert. “I don’t think there’s any reason why such an exercise shouldn’t be more widespread,” he enthused. “All you need is a jump rope and an open space. You can even jump rope in your home. Sometimes I jump rope at home when I’ve made sure my downstairs neighbours have gone out. I will continue to jump rope even after this show has ended its run.”

And all those hours he spent practising have given him a new edge. Zhen Huan told Showbiz Sista: “At first my housemates didn’t quite understand it because I was just starting to learn how to jump rope and I kept tripping up. Later, when I got better at it, they decided they wanted to learn it too so that they could pick up girls.”

So, when is Zhen Huan going to start using his trusty jump rope to pick up girls, too? “I think I should upgrade my skills a little more. I need a little more practice,” he demurred.

Catch Jump starting May 16, weekdays at 10pm on MediaCorp TV Channel U. Showbiz Sista, signing out. Live long and pop corn!