Best gig? Jacky Wu gets paid $155,000 to take 2 photos with newly-weds in China

TAIPEI – Taiwanese variety host Jacky Wu has been in the industry for 40 years and taken on all kinds of jobs.

However, there was one gig which stood out.

The 60-year-old revealed the strange incident in a recent episode of variety show Super Followers (2016 to present).

Wu received a job offer for a wedding in Shenyang city in China several years ago.

He wanted to turn down the job, as he had just completed a performance in Shanghai and wanted to return to Taiwan to see his children.

However, Wu's manager said he had already accepted the gig, which came with a fee of 800,000 yuan (S$155,000).

Wu said he reached the venue in Shenyang at about 7pm, just as the wedding was starting.

"There was a big banquet in front and a table backstage, with only my manager and I eating there," Wu said.

He recalled that there were also several A-list actors, singers and other artistes performing at the wedding, as he waited for his turn till 8.40pm.

The newlyweds then approached Wu, with the groom telling him: "Brother Jacky, I proposed to my wife by singing your song Do You Remember Me Only on a Night Like This."

The song was from Wu's debut album of the same name in 1987.

The singer then realised the groom was the son of a steel tycoon from north-eastern China. The newlyweds took two photos with Wu before moving on to the other tables.

Though he had prepared a performance, Wu did not take the stage.

Nevertheless, he was treated to a stay at the presidential suite of a high-end hotel that night, and also received the fee.

"Eight hundred thousand yuan for two photos," Wu exclaimed on the show.

ALSO READ: Jacky Wu says he'll give $88k hongbao to daughter after birth of first grandchild

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.