Year in Review 2023: Yahoo Singapore readers' top 10 most-searched female celebrities in Singapore

From career milestones at this year’s Star Awards, to learning about a pregnancy during troubled times, to a tragic loss and even a cancer diagnosis, 2023 has been a real rollercoaster ride for some of the female celebrities on this list of most-searched stars in Singapore.

This year's list features a good mix of veterans as well as rising stars who made the headlines in 2023. It’s clearly been a year of highs and lows, so without further ado, let’s dive into Yahoo! Singapore's top 10 most-searched female celebrities and see what they’ve been up to in our Year in Review.

10. Zoe Tay

No surprises here that one of local showbiz’s ‘Ah Jies’ snatched a spot on the list.

Veteran actress Zoe Tay has had a pretty uneventful 2023, although, she did turn heads on the Star Awards 2023 red carpet for her outfit. This wouldn’t be the first time or the last as Tay has always been one of the well-dressed celebs to look out for at Star Awards.

She also spent Mother’s Day rocking out at the Blackpink concert along with local actors, including Zhai Siming and Jeremy Chan.

Surprisingly, Tay spilled some tea on her talkshow with host Guo Liang, where she revealed that a guest gave her a $20 red packet for her wedding in 2021, thinking that banquet was fully sponsored. Gasp!

Most recently, she can be seen on the long-form series My One and Only. In an interview for the show, she told 8world that she thinks the man is still the head of the household.

“He still needs to lead,” she said, explaining that the man can take of "external" responsibilities while the woman manages the "internal" ones.

9. Tasha Low

This isn’t the only Top 10 list that former K-pop singer Tasha Low found her way into.

In April, the 30-year-old snagged her first Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes win at the Star Awards 2023 and revealed that she thought of giving up on her showbiz dreams.

Low said during her acceptance speech, “When I returned from Korea in 2018, I'd actually made up my mind not to return to showbiz. I even went to sell kimchi. Thankfully, that job didn't really suit me, so that's why I'm standing here.”

And, when South Korean heartthrob Lee Seung-gi came to Singapore in June, he selected Low as the actress he’d wish to collaborate with the most - even beating Fann Wong and Carrie Wong.

8. Jeanette Aw

One of the darlings of local showbiz, Jeanette Aw has managed to successfully pivot from acting to being an entrepreneur/baker.

In case you somehow missed it, she launched her bakery Once Upon A Time in May 2021 and it’s still going strong. Just on Sunday (10 Dec), she announced that she’ll finally be expanding the brand to Japan in 2024 after two years of planning.

Aw will be opening pop-ups in Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya from mid January to Valentine’s Day where she’ll be competing with about 200 other chocolate stores.

She still acts, though, with her most recent project being her first English series Come Closer which saw her reuniting with The Little Nyonya co-star Qi Yuwu.

7. Jin Yinji

One of local showbiz’s beloved veteran actresses, Jin Yinji suffered a tragedy in 2023. The 76-year-old had told Lianhe Zaobao that her husband Anthony Lee went to the hospital because he couldn’t swallow his food. His test results, however, came back good and the doctor couldn’t diagnose the cause.

But, on the night of 10 Oct, he was alone in the hospital eating when he suddenly suffered a heart attack and died.

Jin said their family didn’t even make it to see him one last time and it will be a regret they’ll have forever.

6. Ann Kok

This ageless actress finally hit a momentous milestone in her acting career at 50.

During the Star Awards 2023 in April, Ann Kok won her 10th Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes award, which means she’ll be getting the All-Time Favourite Artiste award next year.

Her most recent role was as a head nurse in the 2022 Mediacorp medical drama Healing Heroes.

She also told Mediacorp’s Just Swipe Lah that she is allergic to MSG, and discovered it after a severe reaction to bak kut teh in 2006 when her “whole body went numb”.

5. Hazelle Teo

2023 was quite the year for Hazelle Teo. The 29-year-old has harboured dreams of being in showbiz since she was 14, and worked very hard to get to where she is — a YES 933 DJ with a bright future as a host.

And the hard work has paid off for Teo this year, when she got to achieve one of her career goals, which is to host the National Day Parade.

Teo is also known for body positivity and once got into a spot of trouble with her boss for a revealing outfit she wore to the Blackpink concert in May.

“It's this short black cropped top with an inflated heart at the front. I was happy to wear it there, and I felt happy in my own skin,” she told 8days, adding that she thought the Moschino outfit was cute.

However, her boss texted her a few days later, suggesting that she "reconsider your choices of outfit next time" and advised her to consider the "station's image".

The radio DJ took it in stride and apologised for overlooking that. She also clarified that she didn't feel like she was restricted.

4. Jamie Yeo

At a time when the Screen Actors Guild in Hollywood were on strike to get protections against AI (among other things), former Growing Up star Jamie Yeo inked a deal with Hugosave, a financial technology firm, allowing it to use her digital likeness to create content to market their product.

Speaking to Her World, Yeo, 46, said she was intrigued by the process and wanted to be a part of it. She did have her concerns, but ultimately agreed to the deal after establishing a few rules.

She added, “Although AI does pose a threat, I prefer to think in terms of how we can respond and adapt… Yes, AI will get better at mimicking us, but we still go to music festivals and theatres in the era of Spotify and Netflix. We therefore need to find a balance.”

Yeo is also a breast cancer survivor, and revealed that in an Instagram post on 1 October to commemorate Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

In November, she also shared that the breast cancer diagnosis sped up her decision to relocate to the UK with husband, British consultant Robert.

3. Kim Lim

Singapore’s famous billionaire heiress and beauty entrepreneur Kim Lim is constantly under the spotlight.

This year, she held her 32nd birthday bash in Bangkok, which marked the first time Lim has hosted her party overseas.

Celebrities and well-known personalities - such as actors Carrie Wong, Glenn Yong, Aileen Tan, former model Ase Wang, DJ Jean Danker, and celebrity hairdresser David Gan - were present.

In a recent tell-all interview with influencer Xiaxue, Lim also revealed about the childhood abuse she suffered.

"Whenever I talk about this period of my life, I try my best not to cry, but it just comes, especially when I remember the cigarette burns, and it's something I am trying to erase,” she said.

2. Fann Wong

Singapore’s ‘Ah Jie’ Fann Wong leads a life that many would be envious of.

She is constantly decked out in designer brands, jetting off on vacations (with her son Zed) and being all lovey with husband of 14 years, actor Christopher Lee. Oh, and her secret to her lasting marriage? Be independent.

Besides kicking off the year with a yacht trip, with the fam, to celebrate her 52nd birthday, Fann, like some of the year's most-male celebrities, also found her likeness being used without permission on a Facebook sponsored post, together with the masthead of the local daily The Straits Times.

Like Jeanette Aw, Fann has also started her own bakery business in 2023. The actress is also set to reunite with her The Truth About Jane and Sam co-star Peter Ho. The latter will be directing the Taiwanese production Breeze by the Sea, which Wong will star in.

When asked by Lianhe Zaobao on what it would be like to work with Ho again, she replied, “I've not worked with or seen Peter Ho in a very long time. He's now a very good director and has won awards. I really look forward to working with him again."

1. Rebecca Lim

Coming in top this year is local actress Rebecca Lim — another of local showbiz’s darlings.

In February, Lim revealed that she had been trying for a baby, and announced in September that she was four-and-a-half months pregnant.

However, the news of her pregnancy coincided with a difficult period in her life, as she discovered it after her father's funeral in May, while she was recovering from COVID-19 and isolating at home with her mum.

Lim told 8days, "I didn't believe it actually. I had just lost my dad and this happened. You know that I've always wanted a family and we wanted it to be sooner rather than later since we are both in our late 30s. I just didn't expect it to happen at that point in time.”

Then a month later, her horror film Confinement, directed and written by Kelvin Tong, was released, and Lim gamely did publicity for the film while visibly pregnant.

As for what kind of mum she’ll be, the 37-year-old told CNA Lifestyle earlier in the year, “I always thought I would be quite a chill mum, but my brother was saying I'm already so strict with my niece, I'll be even stricter with my child. I'll literally be a tiger mum.”

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