No part of this story can be reproduced without permission from 8days.sg.

It’s just after 10am on a Tuesday when 987 Star winner Georgina Pattarida Dobson walks into the café we agreed to meet at looking all fresh-faced and full of energy.

At first glance, it's easy to see why the 19-year-old who is half-Thai half-British, stood out in the search for 987's new voice. 

Sure, her mixed looks might turn heads, but Georgina has a voice that is made for radio, especially when she regularly does a drawn-out “Ohhh…” while mulling over her answers.

Add to that her friendly and genuine vibe that makes you instantly want her for a BFF.

Impressive for someone who, in her own words, says she has “no radio experience”

“I never knew how to get my foot through the door till 987 Star came up. Before that I always thought how cool it is that so many people were listening to the same voices at one time,” she says.

Georgina, who is in her final year psychology student at Temasek Polytechnic, tells us since winning 987 Star, beating out fellow finalists, Lex Whitlock, Nicolette Callie Wee, and Shaniah Kiew, school hasn’t exactly slowed down.

“There just have been so many projects, meetings, and classes!” she says breathlessly quickly apologising for not being able to meet us earlier after her win.

And it isn’t just school that’s keeping her busy.

Georgina also works two part-time jobs as a waitress at Atlas Bar and Morton’s, The Steak House. She's paid $15 an hour for both jobs. 

Wait, why the hustle, superwoman?

“I just wanted to try and experience new things,” she laughs, telling us she working when she was waiting to enroll into Temasek Polytechnic.

She tells us she earns between S$800 to S$1K a month during school holidays.

Did we mention she would also need to complete an internship before she graduates?

However, Georgina assures us time management is not an issue and that she has always been a pro at fitting things into her schedule.

“I’ve always been pretty organised and I make sure to have my to-do lists so I don’t slip up. I do miss out on sleep though,” she jokingly sighs.

However, Georgina quickly assures us that being a part of 987 would be a priority and says, “If things get too crazy, I would be open to dropping one of my part time jobs too”.

Well, guess the S$5K cash prize she got from winning 987 Star comes in handy.

“About that…” Georgina sheepishly grins, “I already spent it on treating the top 10 finalists of the competition to a meal at Genki Sushi, and drinks at No. 5 Emerald Hill”.

When we praised her generosity towards her former competition, she waves it off and says the group really bonded together during filming.

Really? We would have thought there would be some tension, especially after seeing the barbed exchanges between some finalists during a few of the group challenges.

“We are really friends now and I got closer to many of them when it was just 10 of us left,” she coolly insists.

She jumped at the opportunity when 987 Star dropped by Temasek Polytechnic for auditions.

“I changed upon it on IG and was telling my friends, “Guys, we don’t have class tomorrow but let’s just go down for this!” she laughs.

When she got through the auditions, Georgina says the most excited person in the room was her mum.

“She kept telling me to just go and have fun and said I would never know what would happen and I will never regret joining,” said Georgina.

Even though her mum, who is a pastry chef, couldn’t be at the finals due to work, Georgina tells us she found her way around it.

“My mum secretly hid her phone in a box and watched the live stream on TikTok.

“She commented “Mummy loves you!” when I was announced as the winner and my friend managed to take a screenshot,” she laughed.

Her Thai mother and British father, both 49, met in Thailand before relocating to Singapore for work.

They later had Georgina here, followed by her younger brother a year later.

However, her parents divorced when she was about five years old.

Though Georgina says she isn’t especially close to her dad who now lives in Belgium and works in engineering, they still meet up during the festive season and special occasions.

We also find out that despite growing up in Singapore and going to local schools (Kheng Cheng Primary School followed by Peirce Secondary School), Georgina is still a permanent resident and currently holds both British and Thai citizenship.

According to her, she loves here life here, though isn’t quite ready to make the call to become Singaporean just yet.

“I’m not sure if my mum would want to retire here so we'll see,” she says.

So, what’s next for Georgina?

‘Definitely hitting the airwaves and having my own show!” she says excitedly and tells us that she hopes she would be able to focus on topics like psychology and even mental health.

Heavy stuff. But Georgina thinks of it as a sort of calling.

“I’m not sure whether you feel it, but I it seems more and more people are getting depressed easily and I want to be able to help them through all of that,” she muses.

Though it’s early days, Georgina tells us that beyond radio, she has big dreams of having her own TED Talk one day.

“I have a lot of friends who come to me for advice, and someone even floated the idea to me, and it just sparked a “Really?” in me ever since,” she said.

Photos: Georgina Dobson, Adrian Lee/King Kong Media Production

You can catch Georgina’s winning moment on 987 Star on mewatch or in the video below: