Have we seen the last of Barbarella?
With local actress-turned-director Michelle Chong embarking on her second movie - 3 Peas In A Pod - and not being part of the coming season of Channel 5's parody news sketch show The Noose, does this mean farewell to television's most famous Sarong Party Girl?
Chong, 35, made a name for herself and The Noose by playing a series of popular characters such as air-headed newscaster Adrianna Wow, Sarong Party Girl Barbarella, Filipino domestic helper Leticia Bongnino and Chinese KTV hostess Lulu.
However, these characters will not appear in the sixth season of The Noose, which begins on April 2, at 8.30pm, on Channel 5.
When The New Paper met Chong at a press conference on Monday to mark the start of filming for 3 Peas In A Pod, and asked if she would return to television, she jokingly said: "No, I hope not!"
She said she would not be part of The Noose's new season, or any other television show, in the short term.
"I won't be doing television for a while," she said.
According to previous reports, Chong's MediaCorp contract ended last January and was not renewed.
Ms Kim Wong-Nathan, Channel 5's vice-president of Network Programming and Promotions, confirmed that Chong's characters on the show will not appear in the new season.
"We will not be getting anyone else to play Michelle's characters like Leticia, Lulu or Barbarella and as such, these characters will not be featured in the upcoming season," said Ms Wong-Nathan.
Channel 5 will focus on developing new characters to complement the cast.
"But we would definitely want to work with Michelle again if her schedule permits," she added.
Chong's move away from television is part of her plan never to be in front of the camera again.
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