No safe distancing at birthday party, so Sonia Chew is dropped from countdown show

Singapore -- 987FM radio DJ Sonia Chew has been replaced as the host of Mediacorp's countdown show "Let's Celebrate 2021" amid an alleged breach of safe distancing measures. This was confirmed by a spokesman, who said the show will now be hosted by fellow DJ Jean Danker. Chew was initially supposed to host the event with fellow 987FM DJ Joakim Gomez, with the show being screened both online and on Mediacorp channels. Chew was dropped amidst a probe into an allegation that she was in a gathering to celebrate the 32nd birthday of actor Jeffrey Xu in October involving a total of 13 people. Among those present were four Mediacorp artistes — Chew, Xu, Terence Cao and Shane Pow — and two celebrities not with Mediacorp, Jeremy Chan and Julie Tan. The Ministry of National Development (MND) was alerted to a possible violation of safe distancing measures that occurred in a residence and is investigating the matter.

 

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In an Instagram post on Sunday (Dec 27), Chew apologised for what happened. She said that she was invited to have drinks with what she understood to be a small group of people and was not aware it was a birthday celebration.

Mediacorp's statement in full on the matter is as follows:

 

" We take this matter seriously, and constantly brief and remind our artistes to adhere to safe management guidelines at all times. We will also cooperate fully with the authorities on their investigations.

 

In the meantime, Jean Danker will be hosting 'Let’s Celebrate 2021' with Joakim Gomez. Filming for 'Let’s Celebrate 2021' was conducted in accordance with IMDA guidelines, which allows no more than 20 onscreen talents to be unmasked during production. We would like to assure you that safety remains a priority, and that safe management measures are in place for 'Let’s Celebrate 2021.' "

  /TISG