20
8 DAYS“Have I met you before?”
Joshua Tan asks us after the
outdoor press con for his upcoming
show Flying Through Time at Resorts
World Sentosa. When we remind the
actor that we last met at a promo
shoot for an inflatable obstacle
course, he jokes, “We’ve an affinity
with humid and hot weather. It’s fate
ah?” That was back in Sep 2015,
when the fit Ah Boys to Men (ABTM)
star seemed like the perfect
candidate for the super physical
course, given his lean physique and
impressive stamina. Today, he’s still
looking athletic as usual, just a tad
chunkier.
For the uninitiated, Josh had
piled on a whopping 20kg, tipping
the scales at a solid 88kg to
reprise his role as recruit Ken
Chow for ABTM 4. While his
fellow ABTM buddy Maxi
Lim famously shed 17kg to
shun being typecast as
the chubby sidekick,
Josh, on the other hand,
piled on the pounds
’cos he was “sick of
playing the good-looking
guy”. (Producers, are
you reading this?)
But he didn’t stay
pudgy for long. Soon
after ABTM 4 wrapped,
the 27-year-old hadMove over, Maxi Lim. Call
JOSHUA TAN the new local
poster boy for weight loss.
The Flying Through Time actor
spills on his journey from fit
to flab... and fit again!Josh
do it
to double down on his weight-
loss regimen, shedding 14kg in
under two months to play ancient
general Tiger in upcoming theatrical
extravaganza Flying Through Time.
In it, Josh’s warrior time-travels into
modern day to reclaim a mythical
relic from the villainous Dark X. It’s
a role that involves stunts, flips and
wire work, which explains his need
to get ripped and fit fast. And now,
the actor, who went from fit
to flab to fit again, hopes
to be an inspiration to
weight loss aspirants.8 DAYS: You went to South
Korea to train for your role in
upcoming theatre show Flying
Through Time, which features
acrobatics, gymnastics and
martial arts.
JOSHUA TAN: Actually, before
[my co-star Melody Low and I] went
to Korea, we had a starter pack
in Singapore where we learnt the
basics of acrobatics and gymnastics.
[The other cast members] are like
world class athletes. What we can
do is very finite. So we had to learn
as much as possible within a short
time. There’s a lot of choreography,
movements and dance steps to
memorise. I also had to expand
my [martial arts] repertoire. It’s
honestly quite daunting.
You mentioned that it took
“three lessons, six hours and a
gazillion times falling on your
face” for you to finally do the
back tuck.
(Sighs) Yeah. Doing a back flip is
really tough. I had a setback inFlip or flop:
Joshua
successfully
doing a
back flipscene & Heard