No wedding jitters for Glenn Ong

Twice-married radio DJ Glenn Ong will wed former colleague Jean Danker on Friday

After their wedding on Friday, Glenn Ong and Jean Danker (both above) will head to Bali for a getaway. ST PHOTO: JONATHAN CHOO

On Friday, One FM 91.3 DJ Glenn Ong will be getting married to his fiancee of five years, former colleague and Class 95 DJ Jean Danker, at the Sofitel Singapore Sentosa Resort & Spa.

Ask the SPH Radio jock if he has any butterflies in his stomach and he lets out a big laugh. "Me, wedding jitters? No way," he says.

The joke going around is that he has no reason to be nervous about walking down the aisle because he has had practice. Ong, 46, was married twice before - to the late Kate Reyes and Jamie Yeo, both also radio presenters and former colleagues at his previous employer, Mediacorp.

Still, there will be a couple of firsts for him.

He had his first stag night party organised by his work mates Mark van Cuylenburg, better known as Flying Dutchman; Elliott Danker and producer Andre Hoeden; as well as his fans at Clarke Quay club Le Noir earlier this month.

For the solemnisation on Friday, Ong will be writing his own vows, something he has not done before. He was married to Reyes from 1999 to 2003 and Yeo from 2004 to 2009.

"My pastor told me, there's the normal thing you guys can say, but it will be nice if you write your own vows."

Ong and Danker, 37, were a couple for two years before they got engaged in 2011.

This is her first marriage and she says that one of the reasons it took her so long to decide on a wedding date was for both of them to be "surer" of their decision to get hitched.

"I know it's out there, it's like the elephant in the room," she says of his previous marriages.

"But I don't feel like it's a big thing, for whatever reason. I've never judged him for his past. If anything, I'm always making fun of him about that. I know it's a serious thing, but that's just the way we deal with it."

Danker consulted a close friend and fengshui expert who suggested a few dates this year for the wedding. The couple ended up picking a December date because it coincided with both of their year-end leave periods.

After the wedding, they will fly off to Bali for a getaway, but both say that not much will change after they become husband and wife.

They each have their own apartments and they will still shuttle back and forth between Ong's Orchard area condominium and Danker's Holland Village condominium.

He is letting her call the shots on whether they are having children. "I've always said this, 'the guy has no say'. It's easy doing it, but it's very hard afterwards," he points out.

Danker says: "It hasn't been my aspiration, but you never say never, who knows."

The couple have a five-year-old Jack Russell terrier, Biscuit, who will be walking down the aisle with Ong.

There will be quite a few veteran and familiar faces from the entertainment scene at the wedding, including radio personalities from both SPH Radio and Mediacorp.

The wedding band will be Jive Talkin', one of Singapore's most prominent club bands.

"We all grew up with Jive Talkin' and I know they won't let me down. It's so easy to tell (Jive Talkin' singer) Raffy to 'just rock the place' and he'll know what to do," says Ong.

Broadcasting veteran William Xavier, or Mr X, will be the emcee at the wedding dinner while radio presenter, singer and songwriter Chris Ho will be the DJ of the night.

Xavier might not have the microphone for long, though, given Ong's notoriously brazen hosting style.

"I'm going to go around with the mic. I'm going to be talking throughout the evening together with the MC. I don't want to be quiet and sit down there and be the VIP. I'm going to force people to say good things about us," he says with a smile.

And while they both pretty much agree on the wedding programme, there was one thing that Danker was adamantly against.

Ong says with a guffaw: "I suggested, 'let's get a karaoke machine' and she panicked. I have all these crazy ideas which I will still go ahead with if she gives me the green light. But I don't want to embarrass my bride."

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on December 12, 2016, with the headline No wedding jitters for Glenn Ong. Subscribe