SINGAPORE — “Why didn’t I stick to hosting? Hosting a show is so easy,” actor Bryan Wong was heard muttering to himself on the set of the MediaCorp TV Channel 8 drama Hand In Hand, which also stars Jesseca Liu, Aloysius Pang, Sora Ma and Ben Yeo.

In the new series, Wong plays a ruffian and the head of a dysfunctional family. But that means the actor has had to tackle quite a few stunts on his own — without a body double. Just like Jackie Chan. When we were there, Wong was shooting a stunt scene in which he had to dangle from the rooftop of a multi-storey car park. There was only one problem: His crippling fear of heights.

“It’s my vertigo. When I see people ... doing the demonstration or getting close to the railings, my knees go weak,” he said.

The man who made his mark presenting a slew of variety and game shows, such as City Beat, Where The Queue Starts, Behind Every Job and more recently, Minute To Win It, has never had to do anything like this. Even his previous acting stints on shows such as You Can Be An Angel Too, In The Name Of Love and Gonna Make It saw him with his feet planted firmly on the ground.

“Why do I have to do this? I think I have to go to the bathroom,” groaned the 2014 Star Awards Best Actor nominee, just before he was strapped into a harness and lowered over the railing. And he got progressively more frazzled as filming went on. By the time it ended, an ashen-faced Wong was visibly trembling and soaked through with perspiration in the punishing heat. And you thought showbiz was glamorous. MAY SEAH

Hand In Hand is slated to air from Sept 24, weekdays at 9pm on MediaCorp TV Channel 8. Watch Bryan perform his stunt at http://tdy.sg/bryanstunt.