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When Chen Liping was announced as the Best Supporting Actress winner at Star Awards 2026 on Apr 19, many immediately thought about what a pity it must have been for Dawn Yeoh.
After all, the 39-year-old's "irritating and evil" Kang Si Li in Emerald Hill is one of the most standout characters from the 2025 Mediacorp blockbuster.
The former Mediacorp actress says many people have messaged her online calling her character on Emerald Hill "irritating and evil". (Photo: Mediacorp)
That role also earned the actress four nominations this year – Best Supporting Actress, Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes, Most Hated Villain, and MYPICK! Best CP (Couple Pairing) with Emerald Hill on-screen partner Romeo Tan.
Yeoh, who has not bagged a single award at the ceremony despite being in showbiz for over 20 years, was seen as a front-runner for Best Supporting Actress ever since the nominations were announced.
Unfortunately, she ultimately lost out to Chen's Ah Zhu, a street con artist and gambler who raises young Xinniang (played by Young Talent Award winner Ivory Chia) in Emerald Hill.
After the Star Awards ceremony, Yeoh was nowhere to be seen. 8days.sg later found out through her manager that she "went to get changed and left almost immediately after".
"[We] didn't really hang around much after," said Yeoh's manager.
The actress, however, did take some time out while leaving to meet her fans waiting at the venue as some of them specially flew in from Penang to support her that night.
When 8days.sg caught up with Yeoh after the awards show, she kept her responses brief, though her disappointment was apparent throughout the conversation.
"To be honest, I had high expectations," she confessed.
We asked Yeoh what went through her mind when Chen's name was called out instead of hers, and she didn’t mince her words: "I wish there had been one more winner."
While she is inevitably "disappointed", the actress asserted that she's "still feeling proud to be part of this phenomenon" that is Emerald Hill and that this loss "does not affect [her] love for acting".
Of course, it helped that she received plenty of encouragement, not just from her peers, but from "everyone [she] knows", including members of the public.
"[They told me] through my socials, direct messages or WhatsApp and said I’m already a winner in their hearts," she told us.
This year, Yeoh did not make any special effort to canvass for votes for a Top 10 spot. When asked if she’d do anything differently in the future to improve her chances, the actress made it clear she has no plans to tweak her approach.
"I don’t think any changes makes a change [because] I heard my friends got all their [colleagues] to vote, even overseas offices," she explained.
Dawn Yeoh went for Haidilao dinner after Star Awards 2026 on Apr 19. (Photo: Instagram/mai_zhiqiii)
Nonetheless, it was definitely time for the actress to treat herself.
"I went out for a good Haidilao and celebrated with my loved ones," she said.
This story was originally published in 8Days.
For more 8Days stories, visit https://www.8days.sg/
