One of actor-host Dasmond Koh's closest friends in his 20-odd years in show business was former actor Vincent Ng, but not many people knew that they used to hang out all the time.

However, due to misunderstanding and miscommunication, they drifted apart over the years and might not have mended the rift if not for talk show The Inner Circle.

In the latest episode aired on Wednesday (April 14), host Guo Liang had Koh, 49, on as his guest and also invited other mystery guests onto the show. These are people who have played an important role in Koh's life.

Koh, who was surprised when Ng made an appearance, spoke about their friendship, which started around 1999: "He is also a very direct person and easily offends people everywhere he goes, just like me. We are very similar."

Ng, 45, who left behind his acting career in 2007 to concentrate on his martial arts school, has kept a low profile since then, but made the effort to go on The Inner Circle for the sake of his old pal.

Speaking of an incident which he thought had mishandled and offended Koh, Ng said he was younger then and avoided the issue instead of clearing the air.

He believed this matter, which he did not want to go into details, led to their estrangement.

However, Koh revealed that all these years, he had thought it was professional rivalry which had created a rift between them.

He recalled that there was a year when Ng did not make it to the list of Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes at the Star Awards, while he himself did. While Koh did not mention which year it was, Ng failed to make the list in 2002 and 2003.

Ng could not hide his surprise when he heard that and exclaimed: "I never cared about those awards."

He lamented that they had wasted so many years because they both did not open up about what was bothering them.

In response, Koh said: "Being able to resolve this matter, which had been in my heart, makes me glad. Thanks to the producers (of this show), we can continue to grow our friendship."