New love, new language

New love

Bobby Tonelli admitted he had a rough time during his much publicised break-up with Joanne Peh last year.

But the American man of Italian descent is thankful that he is now in a happy place.

The 38-year-old FLY entertainment artist has found someone with whom he sees a future.

Tonelli, who has been seeing a Singapore- based Indonesian woman since May, is awaiting the result of his Singapore PR application.

He said: "I love living here and I want to call Singapore home. I just hope it won't be too expensive.

"My girlfriend, as cheesy as it sounds, makes me want to be a better man.

"What I'm focusing on now is having a family of my own - get married, be a dad, have two kids. I am totally over Joanne."

When asked how he felt about Peh declaring to the local media that her current beau Qi Yuwu was The One, Tonelli said he "hopes that's the case".

"I've moved on and am ready to let go," he said.

"I wish Joanne all the best and if Qi Yuwu makes her happy, then that's great."

Tonelli said his girlfriend, who is also 38 years old, is about 1.65m tall, slim, fair-skinned and has long hair.

She is in the jewellery business here.

He wants to shield her from the limelight, so he kept mum about her name.

But things are serious.

A few months ago, he flew with her to Jakarta to meet her parents.

"When I first met them, I greeted them in Bahasa Indonesia because I wanted to show them that I respected their culture," said Tonelli, who tried to pick up the language.

"This is the first time I'm learning a new language for someone else.

"Her parents were, like, 'Oh, okay,' and replied in English."

Tonelli said he was glad that his girlfriend's parents were welcoming of an "ang moh".

The couple plan to fly to Las Vegas later this year to meet Tonelli's family.

They met through mutual friends last year and clicked immediately.

He said: "She's a very sweet, pretty girl and all my friends like her. I'm not at the age to be messing around and I feel very strongly about her."

New station

After two years at 98.7FM, Bobby Tonelli is returning to where he started out as a deejay: Class 95FM.

Next month, he will be hosting the night show there, from 8pm to midnight.

He is excited about the move because this will be his first solo show.

Said Tonelli: "(The move) has been in the works for some time. Hosting the show myself will be a challenge I'm looking forward to."

New movie

On Thursday, Tonelli also started filming his new local movie, which is touting itself as the first of its kind in Singapore.

And no prizes for guessing his role in the film.

He said: "I play a deejay!" The psychological thriller also stars local singer-actress Kit Chan and veteran actress Xiang Yun.

The English film's working title is Ms J Contemplates Her Choice.

Said Tonelli: "It's been great rehearsing with Kit because most of my scenes are with her. She's really cool."

He said he has no scenes with Xiang Yun.

The plot tells the story of Ms J (Chan), who is a guest host on Ken's (Tonelli's) show.

During the show, they receive a call from a member of the public and, in Tonelli's words, "something's not right".

Xiang Yun plays Chan's on-screen sister.

Said Tonelli: "I can't reveal too much about it except that there will be many twists and turns."

Celeb friends gush over Tonelli's new love

2013 was certainly not the most auspicious year of relationships for quite a few of us and I hope to meet my version 2.0 as Bobby has.

- Allan Wu

Bobby's new girlfriend has it all, she's beautiful inside and out.

It's no surprise in the slightest that he's so enamoured with her.

- George Young

So ridiculously happy for them, they are like two peas in a pod and seem joyfully lost in each other's company every time I see them together.

- Henry Golding

The first time I met her, I thought they shared the same fashion sense. Very hip.

She is very down to earth as well.

How cool is that?

- Jimmy T

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