Vi​cki Zhao and her billionaire husband Huang Youlong are one of the wealthiest couples in showbiz, but instead of chronicling their luxurious lifestyles online, they've preferred to keep their private lives, well, private. 

What people do know is that they have a 10-year-old daughter, April, who appears from time to time on Vicki's social media. 

What people don’t know, however, is that Youlong has a son from a previous relationship. Jens, as he is known to the media, is said be 21 this year, and his mother is allegedly Youlong’s first girlfriend. There are also contradicting reports as to whether Youlong and Jens’ mother were married when he was conceived.

Jens' identity came to light recently after netizens discovered his Weibo page, which he started updating in December. They only realised his connection to Vicki when he posted this pic (see above) of him with April. 

And it seems he and his stepsister are very close, judging from this sweet letter that April wrote to him. “Dear Jens my brother, I love you. I miss you very much so I pack (sic) some snack for you (…) and you can eat them! I love you. I am going for camp [on] Thursday and Friday!”

Other netizens have also dug out old interviews given by Youlong where he talked about Jens, like how his son has been a fan of Vicki’s from a young age, and how he still vividly remembers his stepmum's role in hit drama My Fair Princess despite watching it as a child.

Annie Yi is doing her part in the fight against the COVID-19 outbreak in China again.

But this time round, the 50-year-old is determined not to repeat her previous faux pas, where she wore her surgical mask inside out in a video advising everyone to stay safe and practice proper hygiene.

The singer-actress revealed on Weibo that she had managed to get her hands on 1000 protective suits in Germany which she shipped over to China. These suits are currently in high demand in the country, as they are used by frontline medical workers to protect themselves against the highly infectious COVID-19.

“Everyone all around me has stepped up to lend a helping hand, it doesn’t matter if we’re from Wuhan, Taiwan, Henan, Shanghai, Chengdu or Dongbei. When faced with a [life or death matter], it doesn’t matter where we come from, all we wish for is to win this war,” she wrote.

​Annie then reassured those who might be feeling helpless while being quarantined at home, reminding them that they are doing their part by “abiding by the rules and... taking good care of themselves." 

“We're no longer individuals, but a society,” she wrote.

It has not been a good time for the tourism industry. The global outbreak of the novel coronavirus — which, by the way, has been named COVID-19 by the World Health Organization — has resulted in widespread travel bans, and affected companies have been asking their staff to take unpaid leave as a way to save money.

S Hotel, which is owned by Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu’s husband, Wang Xiaofei, was said to be one of those companies. This was reportedly revealed by one of employees of the four-star Taipei establishment, who shared that a company-wide meeting was held at the hotel’s restaurant on the afternoon of February 4.

According to the employee, the unpaid leave agreement forms were distributed to all staff members on that day. The terms state that up to seven working days are to be reduced each month from February 1 to March 31, and that those who do not wish to sign the contract will be given a severance notice.

However, on February 10, several employees who agreed to sign the form were also given severance notices, leading to confusion and dissatisfaction.

When approached by a reporter, Xiaofei acknowledged that they are looking for ways to cut down on unnecessary expenses, but denied forcing unpaid leave contracts or severance notices on anybody.

“Everything is done in accordance with the relevant government regulations,” he said. “I did call for a meeting with the staff to discuss this matter, and a majority of them agreed to weather this storm together. For the handful who did not agree, the company will make the necessary arrangements while adhering to labour laws.”

As for the issue with the staff who were supposedly let go on February 10 despite agreeing to take unpaid leave, the 38-year-old clarified that he had called for another meeting with them on that day and given them the rest of the afternoon to rethink their decision.

“However, four employees only got back to us the next day, and since the list of staff choosing to remain with the company had already been finalised the night before, those four were let go.”

​Xiaofei then took the opportunity to make a morale-boosting declaration to his staff: “The day anyone joins my company, [he or she] immediately becomes part of my family, and they will never receive unfair treatment.”

A representative for Barbie was also quoted by a Taiwanese paper as saying, “The global economy has been severely affected by this epidemic. We must all endure these difficult times together.”

The rapid spread of the novel coronavirus has people on high alert, with masks, hand sanitisers and groceries flying off shelves all over the world. Everyone’s all worried about catching the virus, except for Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi, it seems. 

The 40-year-old recently brought her newborn son back to China after staying in the States for a month after giving birth.

According to reports, Ziyi is now finishing up her postpartum confinement in a hospital in Beijing. And yesterday (Feb 10), her husband Chinese rocker Wang Feng and their five-year-old daughter, Xing Xing, were snapped paying Ziyi a visit. 

What shocked everyone though was how neither father nor daughter were wearing a mask.

Accompanying Wang Feng and Xing Xing was their driver, who was said to be carrying gifts meant for Ziyi, who had turned 41 the day before. 

While the mother-of-two has been busy caring for her son, her management team didn't forget to thank her many fans for wishing her happy birthday online. 

“During this period, I sincerely hope that all of you and your family members stay safe! Thank you for sending your sincere blessings to Ziyi. Love defies distance. May every city recover as soon as possible, and we wish every family health and happiness,” wrote her management on Weibo. They also posted pics of letters from her fans.

​Many of the letters thanked Ziyi for being “inspiring” and “fearless”, especially when it came to voicing out her concerns about the epidemic. 

Apart from contributing towards the charity efforts in Wuhan, Ziyi has also lambasted those responsible for spreading the virus. Most recently, she also publicly grieved the death of whistleblower doctor Li Wenliang, who succumbed to the virus soon after sounding the alarm on the coronavirus outbreak. 

“The doctor who was the first to warn us about the virus has now passed away! How many lives were taken away because someone was trying to hide the facts? He is only 34 years old. He has an unborn baby. This is heartbreaking,” Ziyi wrote.

Taiwanese pop diva A-mei has reigned over Mandopop for more than two decades. She has amassed countless awards, legions of followers, and, unsurprisingly, quite the fortune. Which makes it no surprise that the 47-year-old has been snapping up multiple multi-million dollar houses in recent years.

Among her purchases are a NT$130mil (S$6mil) apartment in the Xinyi district and a NT$280mil (S$12.87mil) flat in the Zhongzheng district, both of which are in Taipei. However, her mother was unable to get used to staying at both places, which led to the singer purchasing a sprawling mansion in New Taipei City. According to reports, the property is close to 17,800 square feet and is valued at a whopping NT$470mil (S$21.6mil).

The four-storey house has a clear view of the surrounding mountains and is surrounded by greenery, which gives the occupants unparalleled privacy. 

However, A-mei’s privacy was accidentally invaded after her friend, singer-songwriter Cui Weikai posted pics of her new digs on his Instagram. Cui, who had been invited to A-mei's place, was so wowed by what he saw that he took photos, which he later posted online. Though he quickly deleted them after realising that they were going viral, the damage had already been done. 

And even though Cui only managed to capture snaps of the first and second floors, it was enough to impress netizens who marvelled at the huge living rooms with floor to ceiling windows, as well as the private lawn and pool.

​“I’d love to be as filial as A-mei, but in this case, my wallet is telling me that I should work harder before having such lofty dreams,” one netizen lamented.

Another added, “All of you who are saying that celebs don’t deserve to earn this much money, please spend that time to improve yourself instead of writing hate comments.”

You got that right. 

Just last month, reports claimed that veteran Hongkong actor Damian Lau had suffered a stroke, after a journo spotted him walking with a crutch and looking weaker than usual. The 70-year-old also needed help from an assistant, and it was said that the fingers on his right hand were bent in an unnatural way. 

However, his management denied that he had a stroke, claiming that Damian had a fall and was recovering. 

Over the weekend, Hongkong actress Michelle Yim wrote on Weibo that she had gone hiking with Damian. “It’s the last day of Chinese New Year, and I’m celebrating it with Damian. We went hiking, exchanged red packets and had some morning tea. Here's wishing everyone good health!” she wrote. 

She also posted a photo she took with Damian. In the pic, the actor was all smiles and appeared to be in better health.

However, some netizens believe that the Luk Siu-fung star has yet to fully recover from his reported stroke. According to them, they think that Damian had deliberately placed his right hand in his pocket so as to hide his bent fingers.

Footage of people in Singapore frantically stocking up on essential food items and toilet paper because of the Wuhan virus outbreak have been making the rounds on the Internet, causing unnecessary panic and unease in our little red dot. But even before the Great Singapore Supermarket Sweep, Hongkong had faced the same problem.

And Hongkong actress Tavia Yeung’s older sister, Griselda, has been accused of starting the toilet paper hoarding craze after an audio recording of her talking about a possible shortage was uploaded online.

In the recording, the 42-year-old claimed that the majority of the toilet paper producers are based in Wuhan, and that there would be supply issues as the factories there have been shut because of the lockdown. She also claimed that her husband has a friend in the logistics business, and that he was notified that “there might be a short-term shortage of toilet paper because of the closures”.

This audio file, which quickly went viral, was said to have caused panic online as many took her words to be true, and it led to Hongkongers rushing out to the stores to buy toilet paper. 

​Supermarket chains and companies specialising in paper products then had to step up to assure the public that they had sufficient stocks in their warehouse, and that there was no need for panic.

When Griselda was contacted by the media, she admitted that the conversation did take place. However, the actress clarified that she was merely “asking [her] friends to buy [toilet paper] with good intentions”. She didn’t expect that her words would end up being twisted, and she urged the public not to hoard essential items including toilet paper.

Netizens are less than impressed with her response, and wrote that she could just be saying it as damage control. “Who knows how many rolls of toilet paper she has at home? She might be telling us not to panic because she has enough to last her for months,” wrote one skeptical netizen. 

Genetics is a miraculous thing. Thanks to the magic of DNA, Chinese supermodel Lynn Hung and her husband, Hongkong businessman Ken Kwok, have produced twin girls who resemble each of them. Well, according to netizens, that is. 

During CNY, Ken, who is the brother of former TVB actress Kenix Kwok, shared a very huat-tastic Lunar New Year photo of himself with Lynn and their daughters Kaylor and Lyvia, both of whom were in matching red sweaters and pink tutu skirts.

Netizens marvelled at the “remarkably uniform distribution of genes”, pointing out how older sister Kaylor (on the right in the pic above) looks like mama, while younger sister Lyvia takes after papa more.

Unlike other more protective celeb parents, Lynn, who dated Aaron Kwok for seven years in the late 2000s, does not shy away from sharing photos and videos of her little girls on social media. And this latest photo shows that the older they get (they turn two in April), the less alike they look.

Then again, who knows? They may end up confusing restaurant staff just like Stefanie Sun and her younger sister when they grow up.

Less than a week after dealing with a minor immigration interference at the Taipei airport, Taiwan-based Malaysian singer-songwriter Michael Wong (better known as Guang Liang) released the music video for his new single ‘Milestone’, along with a few promotional images from the shoot.

In one of the photos, the 49-year-old is seen posing with his arms around a young boy, and if you think there’s some strong family resemblance going on here, you’re not alone. Apparently, even the staff at Michael’s company couldn’t help but wonder, “Is that Michael’s son? Why do they look alike?”

In case you're wondering, Michael is not married and doesn't have any kids. That we know of. 

Sorry to disappoint but there’s no sensational secret child exposé here. As it turns out, the boy is actually Michael’s nephew, the son of his second eldest brother.

According to reports, the lad, said to be about 15 years old, is based in New Zealand and happened to be in Taipei on a two-week vacation when production for the music video was underway.

However, instead of spending all his time wandering around Ximending (he was on holiday, after all), the aspiring photographer grabbed the valuable opportunity to tag along with his famous uncle to observe the filming process.

He also helped Michael snap some pictures, although it’s unclear if any of the promotional images were shot by him.

​Of course, it wasn’t long before all that secret son speculation reached Michael, who was pretty amused by it all. “This just proves that the Wong family genes are very strong!” he quipped. 

Hmmm. Makes us wonder what the rest of his relatives all look like.

Being the other half of a superstar comes with its fair share of perks, but more often than not, the less famous one in the relationship gets accused of being a gold-digger or a hanger-on. The stress from such judgmental comments can sometimes get the best of the couple, but Hannah Quinlivan aka Mrs. Jay Chou has declared that she no longer lets the opinions of others influence her choices.

The actress-model wasn't the big star she is now before Jay went public with their relationship. And when he did, Hannah was shoved into the spotlight and netizens started nitpicking her every move.

And because Hannah was so young, she felt like she needed everyone to like her. “I wanted to prove that I wasn’t just [Jay Chou’s girlfriend], so I tried very hard to break that stereotype,” she revealed in a recent interview. “It was only later on when I realised that the only opinions that matter are those of the ones who love you.”

She added: “I feel like everyone should have a psychologist [they can talk to]. We encounter all sorts of bad things in life and we might not be as strong as we think we are, and instead of comforting ourselves in a way that we think is best, perhaps there is a better way to deal with it.”

​Hannah also talked about her relationship with Jay, saying that seeing her parents get divorced when she was much younger caused her to think negatively of romantic relationships.

“Thankfully, my other half has showered with me love and I’ve never felt uneasy [in our relationship],” she admitted. “I think the biggest leap of faith I’ve taken is getting married at such a young age.”

In case you forgot, Hannah and Jay got married when she was 21. “Perhaps it was because I was impulsive,' she said. "Or maybe it was because to me, love is the most important. Or it could also have been because I wanted to have a wonderful family with the one I love. That’s why I asked myself, 'Why not?'”