S’pore hunk George Young: I’m no ladies’ man

It's hard to believe this British-born Chinese-Greek stud is single and available.

The charmer — who looks nothing near his age of 32 — even says he has a poor success rate when asking women out.

"Probably below 20 per cent, and it's decreasing," he said half-jokingly. "It depends on how many times you try, and I try a lot. So if I really add up the statistics, it'll be quite low."

One of the most eligible hotties in local showbiz, George Young has been making waves since he made Singapore his home one-and-a-half years back.

The Million Dollar Money Drop host became an overnight Twitter star after he trended worldwide when the game show premiered on Channel 5 on National Day last year.

And although it seems 'Lady Luck' hasn't been shining too brightly on him lately, Young, who has been in only four serious relationships since he was 16, says he remembers his successes, and he learns from them.

"As I get more experienced, I realise you gotta try," he confessed to Yahoo! Singapore.

"You fail 100 per cent if you don't try to talk to the person you might like. If you think you might like them, even if he or she looks really intimidating at first, give it a go, you don't know that until you try."

Not too long ago, online rumours linked him with Taiwanese-American TV personality Janet Hsieh, whom he co-hosted travel series Fun Taiwan with, and local actress Rebecca Lim, whom he acted alongside in local TV series The Pupil 2.

Young insists he's good friends with both Hsieh, 32, and Lim, 25.

"Janet and I have known each other for almost ten years… Everytime I'm in Taiwan, I hang out with her and her friends," he said.

"And with Rebecca, I see her when I can; sometimes we go out with other friends as well. But not in terms of a relationship, no one's made that move, yet."

Not always smooth sailing

Since moving to Singapore, Young has landed himself numerous gigs — from game show host, to radio deejay, to actor and brand ambassador.

But while he joked that "99 per cent" of his success in the city-state is due to his boyish good looks, his Pan-Asian genes haven't always won people over.

"Looks are the first impression, you get that from how someone makes an appearance," the psychology graduate began.

"Why do we wear the clothes we wear? Why do we decide to wear a suit for an interview? It's an outward appearance that you portray, a halo effect."

"Looks are a big thing in this industry. But at the same time, it can hold you back. I've got a lot of roles where I'm not suited for because I don't look the part," he pointed out.

After deciding in his late 20s to make the career switch to showbiz from — get this — a second degree in law, the qualified lawyer in the UK found himself facing another peculiar problem.

"I had casting problems," Young revealed.

"When I left law and got an agent in the UK, my casting agents were going, where can we place this guy? He's neither Caucasian enough nor Asian enough, what should we do with him? How can he fit into a family unit?"

"It was hard, jobs were few and far between, I was just doing what I could do," he recalled.

Despite the obstacles, Young persevered with efforts to break into showbiz.

"Sure I could have carried on with law for the rest of my life, but acting was something I've always wanted to do," he reasoned. "I thought if I didn't do it early enough, I'd just look back and (regret). I'm trying to do the what-ifs at the moment."

A rose by any other name

Concerns over the impressions people would have of him also prompted Young to adopt a stage name. Just in case you didn't know, George Young is really, George Ng.

"George Ng is a very Chinese name," he explained.

"Back in England, they see it and they make an impression right there and then — he's Chinese, what Chinese roles can he do? I went with Young because I wanted something ambiguous but also had n-g in it."

It worked — the struggling actor soon got cast alongside Bollywood leading man John Abraham in the 2010 Hindi film Jhootha Hi Sahi, which was filmed in London, as an English-speaking Japanese.

That brought him East after the name "Young" kind of stuck.

"I was just trying to go where the work was. I didn't know where exactly I was gonna be going but I know that there's a market for mixed race in Asia, so I tried to see where was suitable," he said.

Young first tested the waters in Taiwan but failed to make a ripple, due to his poor command of Mandarin then. He made Singapore his next stop and realised it was an easy transition.

"Singapore was this young, burgeoning market which is like a gateway to Asia for English-speaking people especially," he said.

And it didn't hurt him that Singapore "had this Pan-Asian thing going on" then, and probably now as well.

"I was gonna give it nine months, 'cause that's enough to make a baby so I thought it'd be good enough to make a career. I decided I'll give it a go and that was it," he said.

Settling down in S'pore

Nine months and another six later, it seems the star — who recently also appeared in his first Mandarin-speaking roles on Channel 8 since picking up the language less than a year ago — is set to make Singapore his base.

Already looking to buy a house here, the eldest child eventually hopes to move his parents and three brothers, most of whom are still in England, over to stay for good.

His second brother is currently in Beijing, also learning Mandarin, and both have plans to start a business together here in the near future.

"I'd definitely like to have Singapore as my base," shared Young, who will be applying for his PR next month. "Since I came, I've only been back to England once for a couple of weeks for Christmas… Singapore's pretty much my home at the moment, and for the foreseeable future."

Swimming with Sharks

Of late, Young has been kept busy with rehearsing a rather risky stunt.

Come 20 September, the lawyer-turned-actor will make his professional theatre debut in Pangdemonium's psycho-sexual thriller Swimming with Sharks.

In it, he plays Guy, a fresh-faced screenwriter wannabe who works for a nightmare boss played by well-loved actor Adrian Pang.

"Theatre is another thing I've always wanted to try and it's actually happening. It's a big thing for me," revealed Young.

"Swimming with Sharks is an honest play that doesn't hold back," he added. "You're gonna see the underside of this glossy Hollywood surface, and you'll be watching something that you're likely to have experienced before."

"Come see whether my character survives or not, and tell me if I succeed or fail in my first professional theatre gig," he invited.

Any takers?

Swimming with Sharks runs from 20 September to 7 October at the Drama Centre Theatre. Tickets are available for sale at all SISTIC outlets.