PETALING JAYA, Dec 27 — Hong Kong’s showbiz scene in 2019 was filled with budding romances, bitter splits, and scandalous affairs that sent shockwaves all across the region.
And it seems some Malay Mail readers couldn’t get enough of the juicy gossip.
The most popular foreign scandal story on Malay Mail this year centred around Hong Kong celebrities Cecilia Cheung, Nicholas Tse, and their 12-year-old son Lucas, who allegedly told reporters that Tse “does not deserve” his mother and that he had no regrets over his parents’ split.
The comments were reportedly made after Tse revealed that he had been secretly in love with his current girlfriend Faye Wong for the past 20 years.
Meanwhile, actress Katherine Ho and her dance-floor make-out session with billionaire Anson Chan snagged the third spot for most popular foreign scandal story.
The former beauty pageant contestant announced her divorce with 67-year-old husband Wu Zicheng shortly after and speculation was rife that an affair with Chan and Wu’s refusal to have children were behind the split.
Social media users couldn’t help but draw a connection between Ho and her Deep in the Realm of Conscience co-star Jacqueline Wong, who was embroiled in her own cheating scandal after photos of her kissing married actor Andy Hui surfaced.
Wong apparently faced a slew of financial woes after the affair with Hui was exposed and the news became the fourth most popular foreign scandal story on Malay Mail.
Chinese dailies reported that she owed HK$10 million (RM5.3 million) to brands who were forced to drop her as a celebrity ambassador and were seeking compensation fees.
K-pop group G(I)-DLE also made headlines this year as the second most popular foreign scandal story.
The members were accused of cultural appropriation after an interview on the reality show Queendom showed the girls wanting to incorporate “African” influences into their performance.
https://twitter.com/kpop_receiptz/status/1175090691732660224?lang=en
G(I)-DLE’s leader Soyeon said she wanted member Yuqi to sing a particular line in what she described as an “African style”, which was really a lowering of the voice in an attempt at sounding like a black man.
Soyeon then suggested they incorporate African instruments into their performance and proceeded to label their upcoming performance style as “ethnic hip”.
