Life after Growing Up: What happened to the cast who played the Tay siblings

The cast and production team of Growing Up reunited for drinks last year (above), including (front row, from left) actor Ivan Tay (who played Gary’s buddy) and his wife; Irin Gan; executive producer Ng Say Yong; Wee Soon Hui; Lim Kay Tong; and acto
The cast and production team of Growing Up reunited for drinks last year (above), including (front row, from left) actor Ivan Tay (who played Gary’s buddy) and his wife; Irin Gan; executive producer Ng Say Yong; Wee Soon Hui; Lim Kay Tong; and actor Andrew Seow (back row, right, with a friend). -- PHOTO: COURTESY OF IVAN TAY
The Tay siblings in Growing Up comprised (from left) Tammy (played by Jamie Yeo), David (Steven Lim), Vicky (Irin Gan) and Gary (Andrew Seow). -- PHOTO: COURTESY OF IVAN TAY

Growing Up is Singapore's longest-running home-grown English-language drama, with 128 episodes in six seasons running from 1996 to 2002. Four actors took on the memorable roles of the Tay children, Gary, Vicky, David and Tammy.

Here's a look at where they are now.


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Who: Andrew Seow, 42, played the rebellious eldest son Gary. His role earned him the Best Newcomer accolade at 1996's Asian Television Awards. He starred in all six seasons of Growing Up.

Life after Growing Up: After Seow left MediaCorp in 2007, he set up a call centre company and helped out at a friend's pub.

Today, he runs an online business selling paintings and antiques. The self-professed animal lover's flexible schedule allows him to volunteer regularly at dog shelters. He has five dogs, including three rescued dogs.

The bachelor is open to going back to acting and would like to be in independent films.

Speaking fondly of his Growing Up character, he says: "Gary is very close to my heart. I feel that everyone has a Gary in them. Have we not been rebellious before? Was there not a time when your parents asked you what time you were coming home and you ignored them? I guess that's why people can relate to the role."

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Who: Irin Gan, 43, played the wilful eldest daughter Vicky. She starred in seasons one to five.

Life after Growing Up: Gan left MediaCorp in 2000 to further her studies. She returned to show business later that year to join rival and now-defunct television station MediaWorks.

The willowy beauty made it to FHM Singapore's annual 100 Sexiest Women in the World survey in 2002 and 2003.

She reportedly joined the corporate world after leaving show business for good in 2003 when her two-year contract with MediaWorks ended and has kept a low profile since.

Till this day, netizens are curious about her, though. She was out of town when Life! contacted her and was not available for an interview.

She is low-key about her love life and her marital status is unclear. She was married to businessman Steve Ting for two years. They wed in 1998 in a glitzy do at Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore.

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Who: Steven Lim, 40, played the intellectual second son David. He starred in all six seasons of the series.

Life after Growing Up: The boyish Lim moved to London in 2001 to attend drama school and pursue a theatre career.

He did theatre, TV and film in his 12 years in London, during which he starred in the film Cut Sleeve Boys (2006) and the theatre adaptation of the classic comic Adventures Of Tintin (2007) at West End.

Now based in Bangkok, he is pursing his other passion - photography. He divides his time between commercial photography and his passion project, where he shoots art portraiture. He is looking for an exhibition space in Singapore and Bangkok.

Speaking to Life! over the telephone from Bangkok, he says his role as David prompted him to study acting.

The bachelor, who is in a relationship, says: "It was my first main role in a TV series. Partly because of that, I went on to study acting. Before that, acting was more for fun, like a hobby."

"I've stopped acting for the last three years to pursue photography. Acting is something that I will always enjoy doing. It's still one of my passions, except now I want to focus on a different passion. If there's a great script and role, I wouldn't say no."

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Who: Jamie Yeo, 37, played the baby of the family, Tammy. She starred in the third, fourth and fifth seasons. Actress Fann Wong's younger sister Fann Woon Jing and actress Quek Sue-shan played the younger Tammy in the first and second seasons, respectively.

Life after Growing Up: Of the actors who played the Tay children, Yeo is the only one who is still in the entertainment scene. She is a sports presenter with Singtel mio TV.

She will return to MediaCorp next month as a DJ at Gold90.5FM. She left in 2006 after a five-year stint with 987FM (formerly known as Perfect 10).

"This is a homecoming for me. I started my career here and MediaCorp still holds lots of dear memories for me," says Yeo, who made her debut at the age of 17 in a Valentine's Day special with the then Television Corporation of Singapore. She joined the cast of Growing Up when she was 19.

Yeo, who joined Safra Radio's Power98FM in 2012, co-owns marketing firm Upfront Media with her 41-year-old husband Thorsten Nolte and runs local shopping website mums.sg. The couple have a four-year-old daughter, Alysia.

Of her time in Growing Up, she says: "What I miss the most was being in a drama series that a lot of people watched and liked. I felt very proud being in a good drama series.

"The character Tammy was very modern for her time. She was also very headstrong, very vocal. In a way, I can relate to her. I definitely see shades of myself in her."

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