Since appearing as that handsome boy in Channel 5’s hit teen series, Light Years, 6 years ago, Randall Tan has played a string of baddies onscreen, battled with a life-threatening disease and married his longtime friend.  Josceline Foo finds out how the boy has grown.

Fans of actor-cum-host Randall Tan probably just caught him on a Father’s Day Special telemovie, The Angel. But underneath his cheeky boy exterior and bad boy characters, the 36-year-old is a family man.

He tries as hard as he can to spend time with his close-knit family, and even though he has been married to actress Melody Chen for more than a year, they are still deeply in love.

Not only are stories of their married life all over his open blog and his frequent tweets, they are often spotted at malls looking happily in love.

It comes as no surprise, then, to find out that, out of the eight tattoos he sports, his favourite is a large guardian angel tattoo made in the image of Melody. He got it as a birthday present after getting discharged from hospital two years ago after his battle with the Guillain-Barre Syndrome, which is a sickness that affects one’s peripheral nervous system.

“I felt that at that time, Mel was my guardian angel who was always looking after me,” he says.

The disease not only left him fighting for his life but cost him his job for 5 months.

In the course of all that, he had to relearn simple things like feeding himself, standing and walking again. He has since fully recovered, gotten married and takes a different outlook on life.

A disarming smile readily spreads across his face and the workaholic who used to lead a life of “work, earning money, and getting as many jobs” has now learnt to take the time to enjoy his new lease of life.

“To me, the cup is always half full now. I’m very thankful for what I have and I’m very contented. If I lose a job, I lose a job. The illness changed my outlook on life,” he says.

He takes each day as it comes but is constantly aware that he can “no longer play around like an 18-year-old. There are bills to pay and a family to support”.

In his free time, the boisterous fellow enjoys a variety of activities – cooking, grocery shopping, running, tanning – and at other times, he simply “vegetates”.

“I’m actually very simple. Life is too short to dream about the impossible. Whatever I get, I take and I don’t ask for more.”

But whenever he talks about his job, the slight hint of his old workaholic self seems to appear once again – be it the fun in modeling, the energy from hosting, or the passion that he feels for acting.

But one thing he has to clarify is that he isn’t like most of the characters he plays on screen. “I’m not a playboy, I don’t sleep around, I don’t sell or traffic drugs.” he insists.

“I’m really a one-woman man!” he says with mock-indignation.