'You get braver online': Xiaxue says she's non-confrontational in real life, avoids those she 'attacks' in cyberspace

Confrontation is scary to many people, even for outspoken blogger Xiaxue.

Guest speaking for an episode of local podcast The Daily Ketchup uploaded on Jan 9, the 38-year-old – whose real name is Wendy Cheng – admitted that she is actually non-confrontational in real life, saying that she actively avoids people that she has "attacked" online as it feels "awkward".

"I think online, you get braver – you talk more, talk bigger," Xiaxue said. 

"But in real life, I'm very scared one. I'm very non-confrontational."

She then revealed that whenever she sees someone she has "attacked" before, she will make a conscious effort to avoid them in person.

"When I see the person, I'll be like 'Oh my god, I need to siam (get out of the way)'. I won't go like 'see what see' or purposely walk up to them and glare at them, I won't do that," she said.

When asked if the other party will confront her instead, she implied that they will normally acknowledge her but then nothing really happens because "Singaporeans are generally very nice".

This comes after podcast host Johnathan Chua shared about his first encounter with the blogger, where he was surprised that "she was very mellow as a person".

Johnathan explained that when he was at MOSG, Xiaxue made a video "roasting" them, but he somehow "had the idea do a micro-documentary on her".

The deal was later accepted by the blogger, who then came to the office and told him to make sure "the people I attacked don't say anything".

"It's very awkward lah," she admitted.

Reeling from controversy

In the podcast, Xiaxue and the hosts discussed several topics related to her career, such as past controversies and her experience working with Clicknetwork, the YouTube channel where Xiaxue hosted her Guide to Life series. 

They also talked about her infamous sponsored nose job, as well as her very public fallout with fellow influencers Qiu Qiu and Kay Kay, among other things.

But among all her controversies, she calls her saga back in 2020 where a police report was lodged against comments she made 10 years ago her "biggest cancellation".

Vignesh Sankar had accused Xiaxue of "stirring up anti-Indian sentiments" over a 2010 tweet that allegedly contained racist remarks against migrant workers in Singapore.

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In response to the police complaint, Xiaxue said that she had made the tweet as she had been sexually assaulted repeatedly by "members of this group". 

Nonetheless, she admitted on Instagram that it was a mistake, although she voiced her unhappiness with the man digging up her past tweets to use it against her.

"People tried so hard to dig up s*** about me… but all they managed to find is a decade old tweet where I slipped up and let my emotions get better of me," she wrote on Instagram.

"One mistake in 17 years of writing. Who hasn't said anything wrong in 17 years of their life?"

Addressing the comment that she made in the podcast, Xiaxue said that "it was not extreme back then" and that "nobody gave a s****".

The controversy led to many sponsors pulling out publicly, which she claimed was "quite bad" – but she said it was worse to see how people close to her reacted to the incident.

"[Seeing] whether they are supportive or they just siam during the thing, which makes you feel 'woah, you like that one ah', which is disappointing."

'It was so mean'

Xiaxue also talked about her early days of blogging and her rise to fame during the podcast.

She said she started a blog to keep a diary that "cannot be thrown away", after her boyfriend in secondary school threw away the diary she had given to him as a gift. 

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Slowly, her blog started to attract more readers, which was something she did not expect.

Nonetheless, she called some of her old blog posts "childish" and "cringe", and acknowledges the other perspectives that came about due to the backlash she received from controversial ones, such as one of her condemning a disabled man for berating someone for using the handicapped toilet.

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Another controversial blog post of hers was a list of "disgusting-looking" bloggers, which she said she regrets posting in hindsight.

"I don't know what got into me, but there was that one time I decided to blog about the most disgusting-looking bloggers in Singapore," she reflected. "I don't know why, it was so mean."

But despite all her controversial blog posts, she said she never really held contrarian opinions for fame or "strategy", claiming that they were her genuine thoughts at that time.

Albeit, she doesn't shy away from acknowledging that she likes attention, saying that her followers make her feel validated.

When asked if she thinks she will ever get off social media, she said: "I don't think so, because I feel like I still need the attention and the validation".

AsiaOne has reached out to Xiaxue for comment. 

ALSO READ: 'Ryan had something to do with NOC girls': Sylvia Chan in tell-all with Xiaxue

wongdaoen@asiaone.com

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