Nico Weibin Leaves YES 933 After 21 Years; Dishes On The Nicest & Worst Celebs She’s Met

For over two decades, 21 years to be exact, Nico Weibin's dulcet voice has been a source of comfort for listeners of Mediacorp radio station YES 933.

Sadly, today (Oct 29) marks the last time you will hear her on the station. The fortysomething jock, who helmed the 5pm - 8pm time belt with Kunhua, announced on October 21 that she's leaving YES 933 to the surprise of her fans.

Earlier this week, 8days.sg spoke to Weibin, who got her start in radio after being scouted during a hosting event in 2000, to find out why she's saying goodbye to her job of over two decades and where she's headed next.

We also got her to spill the beans on the best and worst celeb guests she’s spoken to over the course of her long and illustrious (she's a three-time winner for the Most Creative DJ at the Golden Microphone Awards) career.

8 DAYS: You've been with YES 933 for 21 years, what went through your mind when you announced that you're leaving the station?

NICO WEIBIN: It felt like I got rid of my constipation after sitting on the toilet bowl for a long time (laughs). Not many people knew about [my decision to quit] and it was only recently that we decided to make things public, and I feel very relieved to finally not have to hide it from everyone.

How long have you been thinking about leaving?

Honestly? (Laughs) It’s been about two years. I feel like I’ve been stagnant for a very long time and it’s long overdue for me to break out of my comfort zone and challenge myself to something unfamiliar.

In an interview with 8world, it was mentioned that one of the major reasons for your leaving is that you want to take care of your health.

(Chuckles) This is one thing I have to clarify. In my podcast, I said that I needed a change in environment to stay young, and to see what else I can do after over two decades as a DJ.

So to answer your question, it’s not that I’m very sick and unable to work. (Laughs) I have chronic sciatica, which is a neurological disorder. When the pain hits, I have to move about. If I don’t, the pain will intensify, and that would be distracting especially if I’m sitting down, which I do a lot of when I’m on air.

But the article's headline made it seem like my health was why I resigned, and my mum was so damn worried because my auntie called her to ask her what was going on.

How serious is your condition?

I’m doing well most of the time. (Laughs) It’s just that it affects me more seriously these days, especially when I can’t go for treatments on time. My time belt was in the evening, which means that I can’t schedule my appointments too close to that timing.

But the other slots fill up fast, and sometimes I have to cancel my appointment because something urgent crops up at work. The appointments are really hard to come by so I haven’t been attending physiotherapy and private training sessions as much as I should be. But most importantly, what I need is rest.

If I turn in my sleep, the movement will trigger the pain, which will wake me up. I’m not able to get a good night’s rest if that happens and that will affect me for the rest of the day. As a DJ, we have to keep our energy levels high when we’re on air, and it was pretty difficult for me because of my condition.

So you're taking a break for now to focus on your health?

Yes, I’ll be prioritising my health by making sure that I go for treatments regularly, but I still need to make a living because my grandfather didn’t leave me a row of shophouses where I can just collect rent. (Laughs) I have three other mouths to feed! [Ed: Weibin lives with her two daughters and her mother].

Have you decided what your next job will be?

I think I need to keep up with the times. (Chuckles) Live streaming is an up-and-coming industry so this is what I want to try next. I think that I have market potential, and I’m very lucky to have met a few partners whom I’m working things out with.

They’re pretty happy with the ideas that I pitched to them and they trust that I’m good with words. I don’t know if I’ll succeed or not, but I want to give it a try.

Sounds like you’re working with different live stream companies instead of signing on with one.

That’s exactly what I’m doing. I might work with them on multiple projects if the first one does well, but I won’t tie myself down to just one platform. I don’t think there’s a point in me doing that if I can’t show results.

And you'll be hosting or doing behind-the-scenes work?

I’ll be producing creative content and hosting too. I can act in skits, sing, and host, so that’s pretty handy since I can do everything, right?

In your 21 years as a DJ, who are the most memorable stars you have interviewed?

Are you asking me for good or the nasty experiences? (Guffaws)

You can tell us both.

(Laughs) There were more good experiences than bad ones for sure. For those who left bad impressions on me… sometimes I feel it’s their manager's fault rather than the artiste's.

There was this female singer whom I was impressed with after watching her on Sisters Who Make Waves. I think she must have a decent personality, otherwise her husband, who’s so good-looking and talented, wouldn’t have married her right? (giggles)

But when she took photos with us in the studio, her manager asked us to delete them in a very rude manner. It’s not that she looked bad — she’s so beautiful and Kunhua and I were the ones who looked terrible — so it was really uncalled for. It would have been better if she had said something like, ‘Let me take a look’ or ‘Oh, I think the photo is okay’ but she kept silent throughout the exchange.

Now you're making us wonder who she could be.

I’ve interviewed Faye Wong too. She’s known as an ice queen but I was so happy to interview her. As expected, she didn’t have much to say, but what impressed me was that she maintained eye contact with me during the interview. When someone refuses to meet your eyes, you know that they’re not interested in what you’re saying, or they’re disrespecting you.

I also love Joey Yung, Karen Mok, Coco Lee, Eason Chan…

There was once I interviewed a boy band with four members, and it was an open secret that one of them didn’t get along with the other three. When they came in, that one guy kept his sunglasses on, and he’d say things like ‘No comments, the others can answer your question’ or ‘They’ve said what I have to say, so I’ll pass’.

I know that his anger wasn’t directed at me, but he wasn’t being professional.

Now that you mention it… (laughs) Aaron Kwok is one of the hardest people to interview.

We’d always be really nervous before speaking to him on air because he just has so much to say! We’d have to remind each other that we had to find an opportunity to move on to the next question, or he’d end up talking about one thing for the entire time (laughs).

Tune in to Weibin's final broadcast on YES 933 from 5pm to 8pm today (Oct 29) here..

Photos: Nico Weibin's Instagram