No reins attached: Host-actor Ben Yeo is a workhorse who wants to find success in live-selling

Born: Sept 23, 1978

For Singapore actor-host and food-and-beverage entrepreneur Ben Yeo, being born in the Year of the Horse is not just a fun zodiac label, but one that truly fits him. 

Where that mentality is most visible is in his live-selling e-commerce plans.

The 47-year-old Mediacorp artiste, who jokingly calls himself a workhorse who cannot slow down, is tapping past experiences of hosting live cooking programmes on the broadcaster. 

“I started doing live-streaming sessions in 2017, but I was not selling anything then,” he tells The Straits Times. 

Brands began approaching him to showcase their products on air. That has since evolved into a structured new pillar of his career.

Since the start of 2026, Yeo has done five live streams and plans to do at least one every month. He is open to selling anything and on any platform, including TikTok and Shopee.

Previously, most people associated him with food.

“I used to focus more on food, but I think I can do more than that. That is why I want to explore more stuff,” he says. “Anything that I like after trying, I will share with my audience.”

Holding steady in a ‘scary’ F&B climate

Yeo’s online push comes at a “scary” time for Singapore’s F&B landscape.

When its lease ended, he shut down Tan Xiang Yuan in January 2025 after running the high-end modern Chinese restaurant in a two-storey conservation house in Dickson Road for two years. He reportedly incurred more than $1 million in losses from the venture that he co-founded with Chinese chef Cao Yong and other business partners.

Yeo cites high rental costs and persistent complaints about the lack of parking around the restaurant as reasons for the closure. 

He owns several other F&B establishments, like zi char hawker stall Charcoal Fish Head Steamboat Restaurant in Kallang and wet market-themed kopitiam Tan Xiang Chai Chee in Chai Chee Lane.

He also operates Tan Xiang Sliced Fish Soup outlets at various coffee shops in Orchard, Waterloo Street, Yishun and Jurong. 

“Everybody knows F&B now is quite scary. Every other day, you hear about eateries closing,” he says. “At first, you find it very shocking, but it has become the norm.”

Against that backdrop, his plan for the new year is not aggressive expansion but consolidation. “We will try to stabilise our business before making the next big move,” he says.

Restless energy 

Other Horse traits Yeo relates to are freedom and the instinct to roam, he says. 

“Since I was young, I’ve known I am not cut out for desk-bound jobs. I need the freedom, I need to move around and explore new stuff that excites me.” 

That restless energy motivates the hardworking multi-hyphenate. 

On the show-business side, he continues to split his time across multiple platforms. He joins 972 radio DJ Violet Fenying on air every Thursday from 2 to 5pm to host a food-focused show.

He still hosts variety shows and acts in dramas – whenever there are jobs, he says.

He continues to create content, such as food-centric travelogues, on his YouTube channel Ben Yeo’s Kitchen Official, which he started in 2022. 

He also hopes to start posting about his exercise regimen on his Instagram account to help his 102,000 followers keep fit. 

The idea germinated after he received positive feedback from his 2025 posts, where he showed off his six-pack abs to commemorate his 47th birthday. 

He works out about six days a week for around an hour with his trainer buddy.

“Keeping fit has become part of my daily routine,” says Yeo, adding that he needs to stay healthy as the breadwinner in the family. He is married and has two sons aged 14 and 17. 

While he does not believe in zodiac predictions, friends have told him Horses could enjoy good career prospects in the new year.

“It is just a guide. There are so many Horses in the world, how can predictions be tailored to you?” he says.

“At the end of the day, it’s about yourself and the effort you put in.”