CHERYL WEE, 31
Actress, founder of wellness and weight management centre, Cheryl W, and mother of a baby boy.
The arrival of her son, Marc, in April this year marked the start of Cheryl Wee’s life as a mum – and the end of her five-year fight with body dysmorphic disorder, which began when Wee was developing her acting career in Taiwan.
“I was 42kg at 1.63m, but was constantly told I needed to lose weight. I was already a size zero, but was obsessed with being size 00 and 40kg.”
Concerned family members eventually persuaded her to return home and put acting on pause. In 2016, Wee started her own wellness and weight management centre, Cheryl W, on the advice of her mother, beauty mogul Jean Yip. “My mum thought it would be a good way to redirect my obsession with food and weight management.”
Her own bodyimage struggles set the philosophy for Cheryl W. “Every woman has her own ideal body shape and weight. I never want women to come here to be a size zero, because that
kind of thinking was what made me crazy. I want to advocate a healthy body image.”
Marc’s arrival also motivated Wee to make changes in her business. “I wanted to come up with products that would be safe even for pregnant women, so I switched the sugar substitute I used, replacing xylitol with plant-based stevia in my entire batch of detox drinks.” Plans to develop more products are in the pipeline, with the aim of scaling the online arm of Cheryl W.
“Now that I have Marc, I want the freedom to work anywhere, even if it’s from home. That’s why I am so motivated to take the business online. I want more children, and I want to be able to grow with them, accompany them to classes, and be with them for the everyday things. My parents were not able to do the same for me not because they didn’t want to, but because they didn’t have the luxury to. Now, I am so much luckier.”
Wee is also acting again. “I really missed it. So for a few days in December, I will be filming a short teledrama, which will air on Toggle or Channel 8.”