Gillian Chung: highlights and low point of singer-actress’ life and career recalled as she marks her 39th birthday | South China Morning Post
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A sombre Gillian Chung (left) with fellow Twin Charlene Choi at a meeting with fans following the leak of nude photos of Chung in 2008, which led the duo to a temporary split. Chung turned 39 on January 21.
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Gillian Chung: highlights and low point of singer-actress’ life and career recalled as she marks her 39th birthday

  • She was flying high as one half of Canto-pop duo Twins when she was brought low by the leak of nude photos of her with Hong Kong singer-actor Edison Chen
  • Chung put the scandal behind her, though, resuming her musical and film careers, and in 2018 wed Taiwanese doctor Michael Lai
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Holly Chik
Holly Chik
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Canto-pop star and actress Gillian Chung Yan-tung, of the duo Twins, celebrated her 39th birthday on Tuesday. She’s come a long way since being picked to form one half of Hong Kong musical duo Twins. These are some of the milestones in her life and career.

Birth of Twins

Chung and Charlene Choi Tsoek-jin were brought together by Emperor Entertainment Group in May 2001 to front Canto-pop duo Twins, who enjoyed great popularity.

They have released close to a dozen albums and toured around the world, playing concerts in North America, Australia, China and Malaysia. Their latest concert tour, Twins LOL Live Around the World, finished in Macau in October 2018.

Gillian Chung (left) and Charlene Choi meet Twins fans in 2001. Photo: Reuters

While many of the duo’s singles and albums topped the charts in Hong Kong, Chung and Choi have also been active in the film industry and won numerous commercial endorsements.

They have co-starred in several Hong Kong films, including The Twins Effect (2003), The Death Curse (2003) and Twins Mission (2007). Chung’s last screen outing was in 2019 film Missing , in which she played a social worker whose policeman father vanishes on a hike.

Gillian Chung (left) and Charlene Choi at a press conference to announce a 2010 reunion concert after the sex-photos scandal led the pop duo to split temporarily.

The duo split temporarily in 2008 following a sex photos scandal involving Chung, but returned to the stage after a two-year break.

Edison Chen sex photos scandal

Photos that appeared to show Chung naked in bed with male singer-actor Edison Chen Koon-hei were leaked to the internet in early 2008, shocking the entertainment world.

Gillian Chung Yan-tung is interviewed by TVB general manager Stephen Chan Chi-wan about the leak of photos of her naked in bed with actor-singer Edison Chen Koon-hei. Photo: TVB
Two weeks after the leak, Chung apologised to the public for being “silly” and “naive” during a meeting with fans in Hong Kong.
The scandal tarnished her public image, and the singer-actress withdrew from public life for about a year.
Chung later revealed that she had thought about committing suicide and quitting show business. But she soldiered on, she said, largely for her family.
Gillian Chung during a promotional event for a fashion brand in March 2009 following a year out of the public eye amid the fallout from a sex-photos scandal.

“I’m in this business for my family. I want to give them a better life. So I don’t want to give up just like that,” Chung said in March 2009.

Marriage to Taiwanese doctor Michael Lai

In February 2018, Chung announced her engagement to her Taiwanese doctor boyfriend Michael Lai, who is eight years younger than her, via her Instagram account.

Newlyweds Gillian Chung and Michael Lai, with (back, from left) bridesmaids Yumiko Cheng, Joey Yung and Charlene Choi.

The couple held their wedding celebration at Los Angeles’ historic 1923 Millennium Biltmore Hotel three months later. Bandmate Choi and fellow Canto-pop stars Joey Yung Cho-yee and Yumiko Cheng Hei-yi were her bridesmaids.

Chung’s dress was made by Jenny Packham, a favourite designer of Kate Middleton, Britain’s Duchess of Cambridge.

It was Chung’s first marriage but Lai’s second. He married Taiwanese flight attendant and blogger Ivy Chao in 2016 but the couple divorced six months later.

Gillian Chung in a still from 2019 film Missing.

If you are having suicidal thoughts, or you know someone who is, help is available. For Hong Kong, dial +852 2896 0000 for The Samaritans or +852 2382 0000 for Suicide Prevention Services. In the US, call The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on +1 800 273 8255. For a list of other nations’ helplines, see this page.

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