In recent months, Glenn Ong experienced upheavals in his personal life and career, but the veteran local radio deejay is taking it in his stride.
"I keep it very professional," the 54-year-old host of The Big Show With Glenn And Angel on SPH Radio's Kiss92 tells The Straits Times. "The show must go on, you know."
On Dec 24, Ong and local radio DJ Jean Danker announced in a joint Instagram post that they were parting ways after eight years of marriage. Danker, 46, is a host and presenter on Mediacorp's Class 95.
About a week later, Ong's long-time on-air partner Mark van Cuylenburg, better known as The Flying Dutchman (FD), left The Big Show to join sister station One FM 91.3's The Morning Drive. The Big Show was previously hosted by Ong, FD and Angelique Teo from 2021.
On April 4, Ong achieved a new career milestone when he won the inaugural Presenter of the Year prize at SPH Media's annual English, Malay and Tamil Media (EMTM) Group awards ceremony.
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On his soon-to-be-finalised divorce from Danker, he says: "As sad as I feel about what has happened, we're still amicable."
He declines to reveal more, citing privacy reasons. It was Ong's third marriage. His former wives were Jamie Yeo and the late Kate Reyes, both former local radio DJs.
"I'm not looking to move on to another serious relationship because I feel I've never had time for myself. I've never not been in a relationship."
When he is not busy with work, he spends time at the gym or playing golf.
"Because of where I am in my career right now, I can pretty much do anything, even a short trip over the weekend. I don't have to report to anybody," says Ong, who prefers not to comment if he has started dating again.
There was also sadness over parting with FD. The duo first hosted together while they were on Class 95 from 2003 to 2013. In 2015, they reunited after joining SPH Radio. They started out on One FM 91.3's morning show before moving to Kiss92 in 2023.
Ong insists there is nothing personal about their separation.
"I'm very comfortable working with him," he says of FD, 68. "And I think even with Angel, the three of us, we worked very well together. But I think they needed someone like FD to strengthen One FM 91.3 a little more.
"And at the same time, because I had been working with Angel for quite a while, we are working towards forging a new partnership. I don't think it was an easy decision on the part of the SPH Radio bosses, but I think it's part of a renewal for both stations."
Ong is pleased with how he and Teo, 50, have charted a new direction for The Big Show. On air on weekdays from 6 to 10am, they take on topics such as sustainability, travel, technology and entertainment, and oversee a daily segment called The Big Show TV, during which viewers get to interact with the show's guests.
And while he has a reputation for being outspoken, confrontational and even egoistical in the past, Ong has learnt to be more of a team player in the last decade.
He states proudly that he has yet to receive any warning letters from the Infocomm Media Development Authority, unlike his controversial days back in Mediacorp.
Receiving the Presenter of the Year award is an encouragement, he says, crediting his bosses at SPH Radio for helping him to be a better person on and off the air.
His days of being a "fiercely competitive attack dog" who was always trying to outdo other DJs in rival stations are over, and he wants to unite the radio industry in Singapore, which he feels is unnecessarily divided.
"I'm more focused on being a unifier (now). I know how to adapt. Like when FD had to go over to 91.3, I still had to keep the team together and try new things to fill that void," he says.
Not being co-hosts has not stopped Ong from spending time with FD after hours.
"I always ask him to go out drinking, and I'll get a scolding (from One FM) the next day... 'Why did you take him out last night?' Because he goes into the studio a bit 'senget' (slang for unsteady)," he jokes.
Not surprisingly, Ong is open to working with FD again. "We'll just go with whatever the bosses want. If tomorrow, the bosses give us a call, 'Hey, the two of you are back together again', I'll go 'sure'."
