In 2012, readers were asked to vote for their favourite local male celebrity of the year. The poll followed a nominee list of international stars and was open to Singapore-based public figures. Voting was the whole point: every click counted, and readers were encouraged to rally friends to cast extra votes for their pick.
One of the nominees was George Young, the British-born actor and presenter. He became a familiar face on Singapore television in 2011, when he hosted Million Dollar Money Drop: Singapore Edition. The game show premiered on National Day on MediaCorp Channel 5.
From game-show host to working actor
Young was born in London in 1980 and began his career in entertainment in the United Kingdom. His Singapore debut on the game show brought him a major recognition: his agency says he won the ELLE Award for Breakout Star of the Year for it.
He then built a stage and screen career in the region. On stage, he played the lead role of Guy in Pangdemonium’s Swimming with Sharks, which his agency says earned him ELLE’s Actor of the Year award. On television, his credits include the MediaCorp productions Mata Mata, and Spouse for House. He also appeared in HBO Asia’s miniseries Grace, which brought an Asian Television Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
Presenting remained part of his work too. His agency lists hosting and producing for E! News Asia, Discovery Channel Asia’s Fun Taiwan and the Mediacorp OKTO series artBITES.
Writing, directing and Hollywood roles
Young also wrote, directed and starred in the short film Home, which was officially selected for the Cannes Court Métrage. His agency says it won Best Actor in an Indie Film and Best Duo at the LA Film Awards. At the 2018 Best Shorts Festival, the film received a Humanitarian Award of Distinction and an Award of Excellence for Disability Issues.
His later credits are mostly international. His résumé lists the CW series Containment, where he was a series regular. It also lists the films Malignant and Falling for Christmas. In 2024 he played Howard in the horror film The Strangers, and in 2026 he reprised the role in The Strangers: Chapter 3.
What the 2012 poll captured
The poll belonged to a time when local television was producing a new generation of hosts and actors, some of them, like Young, from outside Singapore. In the 15 years since his 2011 hosting debut, his career has moved from Singapore studios to US productions.
Singapore’s television landscape has changed a great deal since the vote, and so have the careers of the figures who were part of it. MediaCorp’s Star Awards ceremony in April 2026, for example, was themed “Born to Glow”. It also introduced a new Best Microdrama category for bite-sized, mobile-first content, a format that did not exist in 2012.