Former TVB actress Joyce Chen (also known as Joyce Chan) was revealed to be a mum by Hong Kong media recently, and she has confirmed the news on Facebook.
HK01 reported that the 47-year-old secretly gave birth to a daughter three years ago and photos from a reader show her at Causeway Bay Victoria Kindergarten & International Nursery in Hong Kong, where the child is reportedly enrolled.
On July 2, Joyce shared a photoshoot of herself with her daughter as a baby, followed by more photos the next day of herself heavily pregnant.
In the Facebook posts, Joyce shared that she was "surprised" that entertainment reporters would be interested in her becoming a mum.
"The good news should have been announced three years ago, but a lot of things happened at that time, so I didn't have the intention to tell everyone," she wrote.
"Now let's go back in time with everyone, and relive the joy I felt at that time. This is a precious gift God gave me, I'll definitely cherish it."
She added: "Friends from the media don't need to guess too much about who my other half is. He's just a simple and low-key non-celebrity, nothing special."
However, Headline Daily did dig into the identity of her partner and alleged it to be actor-comedian Dayo Wong's driver. From Joyce calling him her "other half", it also appears that they are still together but not married.
An insider claiming to be Joyce's good friend told the Hong Kong publication: "Apart from her daughter, Joyce is also protective of her partner. In front of her friends, she doesn't reveal he's a professional driver.
"She doesn't want to affect her partner's self-esteem and especially doesn't want people to know he's Dayo Wong's driver."
[[nid:692451]]
She also praised the man, saying he's good to Joyce and that they have been together for many years.
Yesterday (June 4), Joyce seemingly responded to the insider's revelation in a cryptic Facebook post.
"There's no trust between people anymore. Someone that you've known for 20 years could betray you. This is another lesson in life," she wrote.
Joyce joined TVB's artist training course in 1993 after graduating from the University of California, and was contracted to the broadcaster from 1994 to 2006.
She was deemed as one of the Five Beauties of TVB in the 1990s, and acted in dramas including Taming of the Princess (1997), Journey to the West II (1997 to 1998), as well as Those Were The Days (1997) alongside Dayo Wong.
The insider also claimed that Joyce's mother is rich and initially opposed the relationship, as she wanted her two daughters, including Joyce, to marry well. She accepted it after seeing how Joyce and her daughter looked like "cute photocopies" of each other and acknowledging that her partner was hardworking and loyal to his family.
She reportedly also bought Joyce and her family a luxury apartment.
[[nid:692312]]
drimac@asiaone.com