Barbie Hsu and Wang Xiaofei's messy divorce: a timeline

Barbie Hsu's divorce from businessman and hotel tycoon now ex-husband, Wang Xiaofei, previously shocked the C-entertainment world with the sudden mention of the news in June 2020.

Since then, the two have moved on pretty quick. Read on for a timeline of the messy drama they were involved in!

In news that hit the Asian tabloids in June 2020 was Barbie Hsu’s surprise announcement that she has filed for divorce from her husband of 10 years, Wang Xiaofei.

The news was so shocking that even the star’s own family members are shocked by the news.

Barbie Hsu is a Taiwanese actress, singer and TV host. She is also fondly addressed as ‘Big S’ by Taiwanese media.

Barbie Hsu was born in Taipei, Taiwan on 6 October 1976, and is the second of three sisters. Other than Barbie, younger sister Dee Hsu is also in the Taiwanese entertainment industry working as an actress, singer and TV host.

Barbie Hsu’s unique on-screen namesake came from her and her sister, Dee Hsu’s involvement in the pop duo ‘ASOS’. ‘ASOS’ is short for ‘Sisters of Shu’. To more easily differentiate between the two, Barbie Hsu opted to be called ‘Big S’, whilst Dee Hsu was nicknamed ‘Small S’.

Along with her singing career in ‘ASOS’, Barbie Hsu entered into the realm of TV hosting in the late nineties and is most known for her TV host work on ‘Guess’ and ‘100% Entertainment’. Barbie and Dee Hsu both shifted careers to TV hosting and acting work upon the release of their last album in 2001.

Despite already having a reputation in Taiwanese media for her TV hosting work, Barbie Hsu’s popularity and career as an actress had a meteoric rise with her work in ‘Meteor Garden’ in 2001, alongside Taiwanese boyband superstars Jerry Yan and Vic Chou of ‘F4’.

(Image: Chinese Television System)

Some of Barbie Hsu’s best known acting works include the ‘Meteor Garden’ franchise,
‘Eternity: A Chinese Ghost Story”, and ‘Corner With Love’.

(Image: Chinese Television System)

Did you know that Barbie Hsu has four books to her name?

(Image: Chinese Television System)

From 8 Days, Barbie Hsu dated Taiwanese actor Blue Lan, and even member of F4 and co-star of ‘Meteor Garden’ Vic Chou. She then met her current husband, Chinese businessman and hotel tycoon Wang Xiaofei, and the two tied the knot in 2010.

After marriage in 2012, Barbie Hsu retired from acting. The star still remains popular, though, and is active in TV hosting and in modelling for promotional campaigns.

(Image: Weibo)

In the course of their marriage, Barbie Hsu bore two children with Wang Xiaofei. Her daughter, Wang Hsi-yueh was born on 24 April 2014, whilst her son, Wang Hsi-lin, was born on 14 May 2016. Barbie Hsu was originally due to have a third child in 2018 but had to terminate the pregnancy due to health complications.

(Image: Weibo)

From an interview with Design Hotels, Wang Xiaofei shared that the entire brand and chain of S Hotels, also known as Starck Hotels, is dedicated to his wife! Other than it having a similar namesake to her on-stage nickname, the entire design concept of the hotel was made with the intent to honor Barbie Hsu.

Wang Xiaofei is not the only one in the union to have dedicated entire buildings in the name of love. From Today, Barbie Hsu has also sacrificed the ownership of her two luxury homes in 2020, selling them to support her hotel tycoon husband from the financial losses he incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Given their very public and extravagant display of affection, it came as a huge shock to many when Barbie Hsu suddenly announced to Taiwanese media on 5 June that she was filing for divorce from Wang Xiaofei.

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Netizens speculate that Wang Xiaofei’s recent shenanigans online might have been the reason behind the starlet’s decision to end the marriage. For one, Today reports that the tycoon drew flak online in April for behaving badly in a drunken stupor, in a video call with a female influencer on China’s version of TikTok, Douyin.

(Image: Weibo)

Taiwan News hinted that Wang Xiaofei’s recent Weibo post on criticizing Taiwan for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic whilst praising China could be another possible cause for the rift. A source has leaked information to Taiwanese media that the move did not sit well with Barbie Hsu, who did not take kindly to Wang Xiaofei’s strong political views.

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The Straits Times noted that Barbie Hsu’s mother was surprised and in disbelief about the sudden announcement of divorce. In an interview with Apple Daily, she commented: “Barbie just said some words out of anger. What divorce is she talking about? I will calm her down.”

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Barbie Hsu’s surprise announcement even shocked her husband Wang Xiaofei, according to Channel News Asia. Wang Xiaofei then took to Weibo to comment on the news. From a translated version of his post on The Straits Times, he wrote: “I was really worried about my family so I said some things that were not very nice. It's easy to get agitated during this pandemic period and I hope my family will be safe and sound."

Given that both her parents and husband seem to be against the divorce and are making attempts to dissuade the star from proceeding with it, perhaps Barbie Hsu will reconsider her decision. However, Yahoo notes that netizens believe that the decision to divorce has been long in the works for Barbie Hsu, as the celebrity has been distancing herself from her husband on social media in recent years and also removed several photos of the two together.

(Image: Chinese Television System)

From 8days, it seems that Barbie herself has chosen to continue with her 'threats' to end the marriage by officially filing for divorce at the Family Court of Taipei in November 2021.

(Image: shushiyuan on Instagram)

The Straits Times goes on to report that the now separated couple are attempting to reach an agreement to divide a total of NT$950 million worth of assets as part of their divorce agreement, which includes Wang Xiaofei's 'S Hotel', famed for being a love token of his to his now ex-wife.

(Image: Tencent)

Barbie Hsu has been the sole caretaker of their two children in Taipei since the pair have been separated during the pandemic, with Wang Xiaofei having to be based in China for work. According to The Straits Times, arrangements on the custody for their two children will soon be finalized and announced by the court.

(Image: Weibo)

From 8days, it seems that the hotel tycoon has been moving on quickly after the end of his relationship with Barbie Hsu. An anonymous netizen uploaded a video clip of Wang Xiaofei having what seemed to be a more-than-friendly chat with a beautiful woman while on vacation on Sanya.

(Image: Tencent)

Realising they were being filmed, Wang Xiaofei and his female companion quickly moved to another location. The recorded behaviour made many netizens suspicious of the two's relationship, whilst others have come in in Wang Xiaofei's defence to state that no one likes being filmed without their consent!

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Continuing on from the report, 8days mentioned that some netizens have turned on their sleuthing skills to say that the footage was not recent. The original uploader then came forward to admit that the footage was from months ago, and apologized for misleading the public and profiting from Barbie's and Wang's divorce.

(Image: Tencent)

Apparently, the girl caught on vacation with Wang Xiaofei in Sanya is truly his new squeeze! From 8days, the Chinese paps have sleuthed out the identity of the mystery girl to be Chinese actress Zhang Yingying.

(Image: Baidu)

Just like her Wang Xiaofei, Barbie Hsu has moved on. Unlike her ex, AsiaOne reports that the star had reconnected with an old flame from back in the day -- who happens to be old-school Korean dance music royalty, DJ Koo!

(Image: djkoo on Instagram)

It's happily ever after this time round for Barbie Hsu as she's now happily married to DJ Koo since Feburary 2022! Unlike his ex-wife, Wang Xiaofei has been connected to several women since the divorce and has been spotted recently with a new beau.

Image: Weibo

Despite the fact that Wang Xiaofei and Zhang Yingying confirmed their relationship in November 2022, Yahoo reports that the couple split up soon after in January 2023.

Image: Weibo

8days reports that Wang Xiaofei might be now dating Malaysian TVB actress Jacquelin Ch'ng, as the two were spotted in a restaurant in Hong Kong together on a group date.

Image jacquelinchng / Instagram

It's unlikely that wedding bells will ring for Wang Xiaofei soon however, as Jacquelin Ch'ng had recently divorced from bubble tea magnate Brian Yang and is not looking to remarry.