Almost 24 hours after storming off the set of a teenage soap being filmed on Cafeteria Beach in Tuen Mun, the members of Russian boy duo Smash!! are sitting in front of me, recovering from their sunburn.
The previous day, Sergey Lazarev and Vlad Topalov made their guest appearance on Sunshine Heartbeat, to be aired on TVB Jade. The scene involved an international beach volleyball championship and the boys were playing the part of the Russia contenders. But standing bare-chested in the mid-day heat for more than three hours was too much for the cousins from chilly Moscow.
Lazarev, 21 and Topalov, 18, arrive at our meeting place, the cafe in Seibu, Causeway Bay, fresh from a shopping trip. Lazarev is carrying trophies from Giordano and Lush, while Topalov is empty-handed. Both wear warm smiles, as if nothing happened the day before. The boys insist they enjoyed the shoot, but say the weather was unbearable.
'It was fun and I love volleyball,' says Topalov.
'Although we can't play volleyball very well, we did enjoy the shoot,' Lazarev says. 'It was just the weather. It was very hot, and we are very tired after the whole Asia tour. We didn't know much about the programme and didn't really understand the procedure.'
The boys insist they were happy to take part in the show. After all, they are probably the first international stars to make an appearance on a local TV series.
Hong Kong is the last stop for the Smash!! boys' promotional tour of Asia. They have already been to South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.
