REALITY shows are tough.

If you think audiences are going to be nicer to you because you walk with a crutch, talk to Benjamin Chow.

The son of local songwriter Clement Chow – prolific jingle-writer and the man behind songs like Count On Me Singapore – has had a rough time proving that he is not faking a condition that requires him to use a crutch.

The same night the show debuted, the national serviceman’s Facebook, e-mail and instant messaging accounts were allegedly hacked.

The hacker posted a message on Benjamin’s Facebook claiming he was faking his condition.

The reason? To ‘trick the Singapore Armed Forces’, and get out of doing his National Service (NS).

‘Why would I do that?’ he told The New Paper yesterday. ‘I still go to work, from 9pm to 5pm.’

He is currently serving as a clerk and is set to complete his NS this December.

He said he developed early osteoarthritis, before his NS days, after he persisted with dancing activities on an injured ankle.

But he anticipated that the crutch would become an issue, even before his Facebook account was hacked into.

‘When I auditioned, I told the producers I was ready to produce my medical records in case anyone had any doubts whether my condition was real,’ he said.

He is more worried, though, about how he will come across on TV. A stage actor for some years, he said he knows ’stage presence is everything’.

‘I know my crutch affects posture, movement, how I express myself,’ he said. But he’s not giving up. ‘I have a story to share, and I want to do this to inspire others.’