‘No health, no friends, no money, no career’: Ryan Tan talks life after the NOC saga

We’re not starting a cult but some followers on Instagram would be nice. Thank you.

Do you have access to the internet? Congratulations, you probably know more about the Night Owl Cinematics (NOC) saga than you asked for.

Fast forward to 2023, Sylvia Chan has joined influencer marketing company Gushcloud as their regional head of content and IP in Asia, while Ryan Tan has started his own channel, Overkill Singapore.

“I feel that my life has been quite a failure”

On Mar. 19, YouTube channel R U OKAY!? 你OK吗, posted their first episode addressing the topic: “Do You Feel Like A Failure?”

The channel is a “Mandarin podcast based on personalities, current affairs and the world around us,” according to their profile.

It is jointly created by GRVTY Media, OverKill Singapore and DoubleUp, a local media company run by influencers Kelvin Tan (better known as Mayiduo) and Charlene Huang.

Their first episode features Ryan in the hot seat, with Mayiduo, Charlene, GRVTY Media co-founder and Jonathan Chua asking the questions.

Mayiduo started off the episode by posing the question, “Do you feel that you have failed in life?” to which Ryan immediately answered yes to.

When asked to elaborate, Ryan said:

“I’m 35 this year and my career has just started because my previous company has failed. On the surface, it looks like I have a legacy or a sense of accomplishment, but to me, it failed.”

He went on to detail the various aspects of his life which could use improvement.

For example, he says, he does not feel that he has many—or any—friends

Festive occasions like Christmas, Lunar New Year or New Year’s Eve are spent at home, or with girlfriend (influencer Cherylene Chan).

 

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A post shared by Cherylene Kiara 陈思绮 (@cherylenechan)

Even so, Ryan said: “My girlfriend is still young so I don’t tell her a lot of things as I don’t want her to worry or be sad, so I don’t have anyone to confide in.”

Cherylene is 24 this year—11 years younger than Ryan.

He went on to mention that he has spent a lot on lawyer’s fees, and his health is poor after working for ten years.

A “protective shield”

Ryan went on to say that because of what he’s been through, he doesn’t have faith or confidence in others.

Host Mayiduo suggested that Ryan has put up a protective shield and Ryan agreed, saying that he had “put up a wall” and did not want people to break it down.

He also agreed with the host’s inference that he was afraid to let people in, as they might hurt him again.

Ryan went to share one incident where a friend of seven to eight years had approached him for financial help:

“I gave him S$15,000 even though I was broke. He approached me for help again but I told him I really had no more cash left, and he immediately blocked me on Instagram and removed me from WhatsApp.”

After the NOC saga, he added, 95% of his friends no longer spoke to him.

Most of his friends in the same line apparently “vanished without a trace.”

However, Ryan revealed, Mayiduo was one of the friends who continued to stand by him, even publicly expressing his support for Ryan on Instagram after the saga broke.

Different perspectives

After what went down with NOC, Ryan said, his reputation has taken a hit.

However, Jonathan had a different perspective to share.

As a fan of NOC, he never really paid Ryan much attention in the past as the latter was always in the background.

He assumed that the former couple had split the responsibilities such that Ryan’s role was an editor and director, while Sylvia handled the business side of things and helped NOC grow.

While he thought Ryan was good at his job then, he has since become more popular as audiences “get to see his face.”

“You’re a f**king sticker you know, in the past,” Jonathan joked.

Wants to repay those that have stuck by him

Despite the setbacks, Ryan shared that he’s motivated to carry on to repay those that have stuck by him.

Many of his current employees were previously from NOC, where they really suffered, he says.

“I feel that I owe them,” he said.

Jonathan asked if he would consider his colleagues as his friends, and Ryan replied that while they are close, he still wouldn’t share his worries with them:

“Everyone has their own problems, so why should I burden them with mine?”

Ryan also mentioned that no one had invited him to their homes for Christmas and Chinese New Year.

“We can spend it together,” offered Jonathan, who also suggested that people might be afraid to invite him.

Ryan agreed and added that they probably think the boss would have prior engagements—or at least that’s what they would politely say if asked.

“No health, no friends, no money, no career,” Ryan joked.

Money isn’t everything

Despite his jokes about his financial situation, Ryan confessed that when he was still with NOC, he was doing well financially, but the more money he made, the more miserable he was.

With more money, he felt even lonelier, had more more to do, and feared losing what he had already achieved.

Now, he said, he has less money, but he feels happier as he has “no relationship problems” and less to lose.

Ryan also said that he sometimes envies his staff as they can knock off at 7pm and not think about work. But for him, his entire life revolves around the company:

“For the past two years, if I’m not at the company, I’m at the lawyer’s office.”

He went on to reveal that he had considered looking for a job instead of being his own boss, but felt that his educational qualifications were not high enough.

Background

If your mind has been wiped clean of the saga (lucky you), here’s a a TL;DR of what happened in October 2021:

1. An anonymous account named @sgcickenrice (later revealed to be run by a student named Brandon Tan by Xiaxue) on TikTok leaks screenshots of abusive WhatsApp messages allegedly from Sylvia to her staff. Several former talents speak out about their experiences.

2. NOC refutes the allegations, NOC and Brandon issue lawyer’s letters to each other

3. Sylvia apologises, and removes herself from NOC’s talent roster.

4. More bullying allegations surface.

5. Ryan Tan, co-founder of NOC and ex-husband of Sylvia Chan, exposed for malicious comments about talents. Ryan apologises and says that he’s still a director at NOC despite his attempt to resign.

6. Xiaxue interviews Sylvia to get her side of the story. She addresses the allegations against her. Sylvia also says that Ryan cheated on her and often sent female talents home at night. She revealed that there was an ongoing dispute over Reno King, a series that started on NOC’s YouTube channel.

7. Sylvia apologises again.

8. Ryan contradicts Sylvia’s side of the story on his Instagram account.

Images via R U OKAY!? 你OK吗/YouTube and ryanxgo/Instagram