Feisty lasses ham it up for reality TV

SINGAPORE - The two contestants who paired up for the home-decor reality show The Apartment may sport matching hair colours, but they are poles apart.

And when their differing personalities collide, the sparks flying on-screen make for pretty interesting TV.

Meet the partners-in-design on the third season of The Apartment: Singaporean deejay Pearlyn Koh, 25, and American-Thai emcee Nora Chompunich, 34.

Speaking to My Paper at the launch of the programme last month, the spunky Chompunich, who goes by the moniker Nara, said: "Throughout the competition, I wondered whether the other teams were fighting as much as we did."

The feisty lasses are among nine pairs of amateur interior designers competing to create the best room under 15 hours on each episode.

Filming took six weeks, starting in May, in apartments located in Malaysian residential enclave The Glades at Putra Heights in Subang Jaya, Selangor.

The attractive prize of a luxurious RM598,000 (S$234,000) two-storey house in Selangor drew a mix of contestants from around the region - including former Indonesian beauty-pageant competitors and modelesque girl-next-door neighbours.

Still, Koh, the sole Singaporean contestant, stands out from the competition with her larger-than-life persona - both on and off screen.

Recalling the most dramatic meltdown during filming, the gregarious Koh said in jest: "I tried to kill Nara with a curtain rod. I hit her with a curtain rod in the hardware store."

Nara, who has been based in Singapore for the past three years, said in exasperation: "I was the...money-keeper shopping with Paris Hilton. She wanted to buy vinyls that cost $500 apiece and she wanted to (plaster an entire) wall full of vinyls."

Koh, a former FHM model, said matter-of-factly: "As a DJ, I'm very particular about the vinyl."

The verbose Koh's - whose nightlife DJ persona is DJ Foxxxy - claim to fame was her controversial reality-show outing, Clicknetwork's FML, three years ago. Then, she allowed cameras to film her every waking moment to be streamed live online for a month.

It was precisely her no-holds-barred ways on that show which caught the eye of The Apartment's production team, who approached her to audition for the show.

And the hyperactive Koh looks set to continue her audacious ways on The Apartment. At the screening of the first episode, she was seen pole-dancing around unfinished wardrobe poles with a sporting Nara.

So, what will the dynamic duo do if they snag the grand prize of a high-end property? In a flash, Koh replied: "A party pad and you guys will be invited to the party."

nggwen@sph.com.sg

Catch The Apartment on Star World (StarHub Ch 501/SingTel mio TV Ch 301) on Sundays at 9.40pm and every Monday at 7pm on Channel 5.

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