'I wouldn't know what I can do': 1990s variety show host Huang Yuling rejected returning to showbiz

Would you rather get paid as a celebrity host on TV or for listening to marriage woes from troubled couples?

For this former TV star, she chose the latter.

In an interview with Shin Min Daily News on Sept 13, former actress-variety show host Huang Yuling told reporters that she received invitations to return to showbiz but rejected all of them.

The 58-year-old explained: "It's been 22 years since I left the industry — even if I go back to hosting variety shows, I wouldn't know what I can do."

Yuling was a co-host in the popular 1990s matchmaking reality show The Perfect Match alongside Zhu Yongqin.

While she still maintained her contacts in showbiz, Yongqin, 60, left the industry to sell insurance and never left his contact number with the broadcaster.

And The Perfect Match does have some relevance to Yuling's current occupation. She's now a psychotherapist and senior counsellor in the field of marriage counselling.

Broadening her horizons

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Prior to her departure from showbiz in 2000, Yuling achieved a masters degree in communication management from the University of South Australia through part-time studies.

She only slept four hours a day during that period when she worked and studied, Shin Min also reported.

After leaving Mediacorp, she joined a dot-com company and also served as a consultant for investment firms.

Six years after stepping away from the limelight, Yuling attended counselling courses and received a masters degree in counselling and guidance from the National Chi Nan University in Taiwan in 2010.

Since then, she's been hard at work as a psychotherapist and marriage counsellor.

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Those who share an era

Yuling also shared that some of The Perfect Match participants contacted her via Facebook.

"Some of the participants are married, some have divorced. We all grew up in that era so we felt some closeness," she said.

Yuling is currently single but that doesn't mean she hasn't thought about relationships at all.

Her partner should have similar ideals, life goals and values and be in the same age group, she explained to the reporter.

'I couldn't have a happy ending'

On her past romance with former TV actor Hong Guorui, Yuling said: "We are friends now and when we meet, we can share a hug, but it wasn't like that at first. There were a lot of struggles initially and I had to slowly let it all go.

"I couldn't have a happy ending and I still have some regrets in my heart."

In 2018, Yuling revealed in an interview with 96.3FM radio DJ Anna Lim that Guorui had "hurt her too deeply" following the end of their relationship.

Said Yuling: "I harboured my hate for him for many years."

khooyihang@asiaone.com