'It was when I worked in the hospital': Kenny Ho admits he carried corpses as illegal worker in UK before finding fame

Some celebrities had difficult lives before finding fame.

According to media reports, former Hong Kong actor Kenny Ho addressed in a recent livestream rumours of him having been an illegal worker who carried corpses when he lived in the UK in the past.

The 63-year-old businessman shared that after he graduated from secondary school, he was emotionally affected when his grandmother died, so he left Hong Kong to seek support from his then-future brother-in-law in the UK.

He said: "Regarding my studies in the UK, I didn't even have enough for school fees. Every day, I went to Chinatown and did illegal part-time work.

"There are online rumours of me having carried corpses - it was when I worked in the hospital. But when I counted all the income earned over the summer, it wasn't even enough to cover my school fees. So, I left. Even if this place was not for me, there were other places I could go to."

Kenny's parents divorced when he was young and he lived with his mother and grandmother.

He is most well-known for his role as imperial guard Zhan Zhao in the 236-episode Taiwanese drama series Justice Pao in 1993.

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Kenny has faded from showbiz for decades. In 2011, he reportedly invested HK$30 million (S$5.25 million) to start Jing Jia Zhuang Foods in Huicheng, Guangdong, and has been based in China since then. Nowadays, he occasionally does livestreams to sell and market his company's products.

In July this year, Kenny made the news for posting a video to express his joy of receiving the elderly transport concession pass JoyYou card, while netizens were quick to question if he needed it as a wealthy man.

He responded then: "This is what the government gives us, we paid taxes in the past, so this is our well-deserved benefit."

Recognising that he is still agile and might look out of place using elderly concession, Kenny said: "I felt a little embarrassed, but I have clearly hit the required age for the card, so why shouldn't I take it?"

ALSO READ: 'We paid taxes in the past': Wealthy retired actor Kenny Ho responds to those irked by him using elderly transport discounts

jolynn.chia@asiaone.com