NOC’s Ryan & Sylvia Continue Making Breakup-Related Content Following Divorce
Once a power couple, Ryan and Sylvia, founders of Singaporean YouTube channel Night Owl Cinematics, have recently finalised their divorced - and fans are still reeling from the shocking news.
But if there’s one thing YouTubers know how to do, it’s to spin their experiences into viral content. And that’s exactly what both of them have been doing. The ex-couple have since posted at least 3 more breakup-related videos, amassing thousands of views.
If you haven’t kept up to date with Ryan and Sylvia’s divorce, check out our article on it here.
Read on to find out more about Ryan and Sylvia’s post-divorce videos.
Photo from Ryan Sylvia
The first video, “10 Ways To Get Over A Heartbreak”, is currently trending on YouTube. Posted on Night Owl Cinematics’ YouTube account, the video shows Ryan as Xi Guay Ong - his crybaby screen persona with an iconic watermelon helmet - looking distraught in the thumbnail.
However, most of the video is centered around their other teammates like Aiken and Joanna. Ryan only appears towards the end.
Ironically, one of the tips in the clip is “make a video”, during which the camera cuts to Ryan sitting at his computer, who turns and blinks with a blank facial expression. This is accompanied by cricket chirping noises.
Photo from Ryan Sylvia
The next point, “try to get back in the game”, shows Ryan auditioning for a date with cheesy pickup lines.
Sylvia does not appear in the video at all, and it is unclear as to whether she was part of its production process.
Instead, she takes to a separate talk show channel, The Thirsty Sisters, which she shares with NOC colleague Nina. Nina also happens to be Ryan’s cousin, by the way.
While NOC’s video is clearly a comedy, this 49-minute one titled “Being A Single Divorced Woman At 32” is a lot more introspective. It doesn’t focus so much on the divorce itself, but rather on her experiences and challenges before and after.
Photo from The Thirsty Sisters
She acknowledges that there is a stigma attached to being divorced, but hopes that “as a member of [that] exclusive group that nobody wants to join”, she can help destigamatise it. She also says that she can now view life from a different perspective.
Her thoughts on publishing the earlier divorce video? “Sibeh paiseh.”
“It’s literally 1.2 million people knowing that your marriage has failed. It is not something to go out and celebrate, but it’s just paiseh because it’s your private life and so many people know that you kind of didn’t do so well.”
She likens it to scoring only 30 marks for an exam, but yelling to the whole school about it.
Photo from The Thirsty Sisters
However, she knew that releasing the video was something that had to be done, despite all the fear and hesitation.
Her colleagues would get bombarded with questions from suspecting fans and even clients regarding her relationship with Ryan, and they wouldn’t know how to give an answer.
Not wanting to let their staff struggle with being caught in the middle, she and ex-husband Ryan finally chose to film the divorce announcement video, with encouragement from close friend Dee Kosh.
Another hurdle was telling her parents in Malaysia about the divorce - they didn’t know even after the papers were signed. Initially, she wanted to tell them in person, but the COVID-19 circuit breaker happened and everything got delayed. With support from her younger brother, she got her family on a Zoom call.
In a bittersweet anecdote, she talks about how her mother thought it was going to be a fun Zoom party. When she broke the news, her mum froze, and in that moment of heavy silence, her young nephew thought it was his cue to start singing the “ABC” song in slow motion!
Everyone did a quick clap after “Z” to satisfy the kid, and he took that as a sign to continue the last bit of the song. *facepalm*
Sylvia shares that her family is huge, and she’s the first one to have gotten divorced, so the concept of it is unimaginable to all her relatives. According to her, all her mum knows about divorce is from Taiwanese dramas where everyone is screaming and crying all the time, and is thus naturally extra concerned.
But Sylvia sounds more than ready to move on and embrace the next chapter of her life. She says that going through the divorce with Ryan as friends “was actually kinda cool” because they were in it together.
Interestingly, Sylvia’s brother is currently staying with Ryan because the 2 guys still see each other as family. This is also mentioned in the third video, "Ryan Tan Opens Up About His Divorce", which was uploaded on YouTube account TEAM TITAN, owned by fellow social media star Jianhao Tan.
In the 1 hour 13 minute episode on The Team Titan Show, Ryan shares his own struggles with the divorce, how being in the spotlight affected him negatively, and how working together with Sylvia took a toll on their relationship.
Photo from TEAM TITAN
Another big question Ryan addresses further: Why is he even an online personality when he doesn't like fame?
Turns out, he only wanted to be behind the camera, and his initial appearances in NOC's videos were only small non-speaking cameos. Wearing his trademark watermelon helmet, he would just stand in a corner at the background as an "Easter egg". However, this somehow blew up and he gained the fame he never sought and inevitably, his private life also got thrown into the public eye.
Ultimately, Ryan very much prefers the technical, back-end aspects of film making. Now without the pressure of a relationship, he has been able to pursue his passion of conducting classes for those who wish to follow his footsteps. Moving forward, he hopes to continue this at a larger scale, while still under NOC's branding.
Although it has been 3 years of healing for the couple, Ryan acknowledges that it's been just a short while for the public, so it is understandable that many fans still cannot wrap their minds around the idea of the breakup. He says that he will be happy for Sylvia if she remarries, and also sounds ready to look for love himself.
Critics have accused the ex-couple of capitalising on their divorce for views, but hey, perhaps this is their method of healing and gaining full closure. We hope that Ryan and Sylvia will be find their own happiness and one day fall in love again - even if not with each other.
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Text by: GirlStyle SG
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