SINGAPORE — MediaCorp TV Channel 8’s latest drama Hand In Hand fits firmly into the category of “family drama”. The show, which stars Bryan Wong, Jesseca Liu, Aloysius Pang and Seraph Sun, revolves around siblings trying to unravel the mystery of their missing father, which reunites their family along the way.

But, ironically, the buzz that has been generated around the show mainly revolves around Bryan Wong’s bulked-up body — specifically, in a scene in which his character runs naked through the Central Business District in an attempt to prove his love for a girl.

Wong’s vital bits are censored — but the flesh parade does not end there. In the same drama, habitual “hunkle” Zheng Geping takes it off, too, as does Ben Yeo, who has not one, but two topless-in-public scenes, one of which features his character having to parade through Chinatown wearing only a cardboard box as a forfeit.

“There were more than 100 people staring at me, taking pictures and videos, and eating noodles while watching me,” Yeo recalled.

AB-SOLUTELY TRAFFIC-STOPPING

It certainly seems that the topless-guy-in-public scene is a recurring motif in Channel 8 dramas. And we are not even talking about storylines in which it is so logical for a character to be semi-clothed that he spends the entire show in next to nothing (like Desmond Tan playing a sweaty rickshaw-puller in A Song To Remember, or Aloysius Pang playing a competitive swimmer in I’m In Charge). We are talking random, gratuitous excuses for actors to take their kits off in public spaces — the more public, the better.

That must be why Orchard Road always seems to bear the brunt of the body-baring. Zhang Zhen Huan, for example, had to strut around shirtless on the shopping belt in 2013’s Start-Up!. And in the upcoming drama House Of Fortune, which will air early next year, Shane Pow will repeat the stunt.

Of course, these also conjure up images of the original, ratings-grabbing flesh parade: Fiona Xie, Felicia Chin and Jeanette Aw taking some bikinis for a run in 2004’s The Champion.

“The girls did that on Orchard Road — but I don’t know how to reach Fiona Xie,” said Wong with a snigger, when asked if he had consulted other actors who had sprinted semi-naked through pedestrian traffic.

So, what is the reason behind the sheer number of such scenes being written into scripts? “Maybe because some of us have such bad fashion sense that we look best when we have nothing on,” Wong quipped, adding, after some thought: “Sex sells, I think. And because we have been, I don’t know, maybe too goody-two-shoes.”

Is Channel 8 becoming a little naughtier now, then? “I think it’s only to spark things up a little bit — to make the show more fun and more eye-catching,” said Yeo.

SOMEBODY HAS DO IT

It may be fun for the viewer, but a single topless scene, which might only last seconds on screen, means months of pumping iron and having steamed chicken breast meals for the those who have to bare their bodies.

“Of course, it’s up to the individual — if you want to look better, you have to work hard at it,” Yeo said. “When I realised that Bryan and Geping also had to take their clothes off, I was like, ‘I have to work even harder than them’. Not to look better, but to look not-so-bad next to them!”

Wong and Yeo both agreed that when doing a barely-clothed-in-public scene, there is not much going through one’s mind.

“I just wanted to finish it,” Yeo said. “At first, I was quite nervous ... but actually, once you take it off, you don’t feel anything. You just shut everything out.”

“I was just repeating the four-letter word over and over in my mind,” Wong deadpanned. “Especially while I was running and could hear people’s cameras clicking.”

He does have one piece of advice for actors with similar scenes on the cards. “Whether you like it or not, you have to do the scene, right? So, before that, be hardworking and do your homework. So long as you are comfortable with the way your body looks, everything is going to be fine,” he said. “On the day I had to film that scene — that was the best my body has ever looked in my entire life.”

From another perspective, said co-star Aloysius Pang, who gets off lightly with only having to wear a dress in Hand In Hand (seriously), it really depends on how you look at it. “If you wanted me to do something like that on my own time, naturally, I would be embarrassed. But if I’m doing it as someone else, as a different character, I wouldn’t feel anything,” he said. “I (would) always convince myself that I’m just doing this because I’m this (character).”

If you ask co-star Jesseca Liu, who had her taste of baring it all in 2008’s Beach.Ball.Babes, in which she famously paraded through Tiong Bahru Market in a bikini, it is definitely not a bad trend. “There are fewer (of) such scenes for girls now — they write them more for the guys. I think more people want to see that,” she said with a smile.

Recalling her own experience, she added: “I completely understand Bryan and Ben’s suffering. But they’re guys! The awkwardness is multiplied for girls. Even when you’re not wearing a lot and there are guys looking at you, you feel awkward — much less if you’re wearing a bikini in a place where you shouldn’t.

“If it’s on the beach, that’s normal, but at a market ... you feel very uncomfortable. When you’re in an open space and you don’t know who might turn up, you do feel like you’re being violated! So, I do admire them.”

Co-star Seraph Sun shared Liu’s opinion. “I think it’s good that the trend has shifted towards the men now. We get eye candy and we’re not the ones suffering!” she said.

“I think every female viewer appreciates such scenes, right? We should encourage more of such scenes,” Sun added with a laugh. “To tell the truth, Sora (Ma, who gets romantically entangled with Wong, Yeo and Zheng in Hand In Hand) should be the happiest. She not only gets to view, she gets to touch as well. Who wouldn’t want to be able to experience it themselves — rather than just flipping through magazines with perfectly toned men in them? I would like to try it once!”

Hand In Hand starts on Sept 25, weekdays at 9pm, on MediaCorp TV Channel 8.