In fairy tales, prince and princess live happily ever after. In real life, the happy days rarely last a lifetime, and in the case of Winston Wang Junior (王泉仁) and Lee Ching-ching (李晶晶), they last about a year and a half.
Next Magazine dropped a bombshell this week when it reported that Wang Junior, the son of tycoon Winston Wang (王文洋), and Lee, a transportation fortune heiress, have separated after 18 months of marriage. The husband is reported to have insisted on a divorce one week after the couple celebrated their baby daughter’s first birthday in June.
Devoted celebrity gossip fans might recall the couple’s nuptials in January last year. The sumptuous ceremony was dubbed “the wedding of the century” by local media as it signaled the union of the empires of Formosa Plastics (台灣塑膠公司) and Capital Bus (首都客運).
Photo: Taipei Times
According to Next Magazine, the reasons for the couple’s split-up are predictable: Both husband and wife are spoiled rich kids, so they refuse to make concessions when disagreements arise and sometimes resort to outbursts of anger. The report also attributes the separation to Wang Junior’s “decisive” temperament when it comes to handling relationships, noting that he and Lee held a lavish engagement party only one month after he dumped model Kelly Po (柏妍安) in 2008.
The reportedly estranged husband and wife have yet to respond to the news.
On a more upbeat note, Mando-pop man-of-war Jay Chou (周杰倫) may face fewer public sneers after his rumored girlfriend Hannah Quinlivan (昆淩) finally celebrated her 18th birthday on Friday last week. Tagged by the press as “the tenderest mixed-blood J-girl” (最嫩混血J女郎) — “J-girl” refers to female stars who have been romantically linked to Chou — the model of Taiwanese and Australian parentage has been hailed as the Chairman’s sweetheart since she was spotted leaving a party at Primo nightclub in Chou’s car in January.
The most up-to-date evidence of the two dating comes from Apple Daily, which reported on Sunday that one of its sources saw the couple strolling the streets of Paris last week. With Quinlivan publicly wishing to spend her birthday in Europe, the pomaceous gossipmonger reckoned the trip was Chou’s birthday gift to his younger girlfriend.
To the delight of local gossip media, Chou never directly denies dating Quinlivan, saying coyly that “I will admit it if you have photographs.”
Also, the 32-year-old Chou’s recent statement about how his mental age makes him more suitable for 18-year-old girls has been taken by gossip journos as confirmation of his rumored cradle-robbery.
The Chairman may be able to learn a lesson or two from senior entertainer Frankie Kao (高凌風). An infamous lothario during his youthful days, the 61-year-old Kao is now trying to win back the heart of 40-year-old wife Chin Yu-chuang (金友莊) after she was rumored to have had an extramarital affair with divorced businessman Chang Chih-chien (張志堅). Chin and Chang were spotted having an intimate moment in a car on Lover’s Day (七夕, aka Chinese Valentine’s Day) earlier this month.
When the news broke, Chin went into hiding for eight days in Kaohsiung. She returned to Taipei on Tuesday and denied having an affair with Chang, but said that her 16-year marriage to Kao has not been a smooth ride.
“He is quite demanding and a male chauvinist,” Chin was quoted as saying. “I’m running out of patience. All I ask for is the right to equality.”
In an attempt to persuade his wife to stay, the former lady’s man has listed eight “wife-loving rules” (愛妻守則) that he promises to follow, including gems like: “Don’t boss others around”; “Don’t think of myself as the most important person in the world”; “Don’t make the wife do things she doesn’t like”; and “The wife is at liberty to hang out with friends.”
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