Local actress Julie Tan is already a head-turner.

Yet the MediaCorp starlet, who is 1.71m tall and weighs 50kg, does not mind going under the knife to make herself look better.

The 21-year-old told The New Paper in an interview for her new Channel U travel reality series, A Date With K-pop Stars, at Korea Plaza in Raffles Place on Wednesday: "It's no longer a social stigma to have plastic surgery.

"As an actress, I have crying scenes and I have to work long hours sometimes. These give me eyebags and fine lines around my eyes."

The first runner-up of The New Paper New Face 2009 added: "If I can do something about my face, it would be to get rid of my eyebags so that my eyes don't look tired and droopy."

In the show, which premieres on Feb 21 at 9pm, Tan visits South Korea to experience its culture.

She hangs out with K-pop groups such as Dal Shabet, Teen Top and A-Jax. She also introduces Korean fashion and beauty trends, as well as hotspots for celebrity sightings.

She even went on a coveted dinner date with 25-year-old Hwang Kwang Hee of boy band ZE:A.

However, the cautious Tan felt pressurised during the date as many fans were gawking at them from outside the restaurant.

"I know K-pop fans are very protective of their idols and I didn't want to get into any trouble for getting too close to Kwang Hee, so I restricted my actions and didn't... interact much with him," she said.

"But Kwang Hee was very nice and started the ball rolling by feeding me. The production team also told me to let loose and not worry. After that, the filming process went smoothly."

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