Thanks to a few photos captured by the paparazzi, Gillian Chung (鍾欣桐), with a new Korean boyfriend is once again in the limelight. The photos show the two wearing matching caps and having lunch, just like any ordinary couple in love. Even with the photos’ poor resolution, they failed to hide the tall and handsome man, the type that Gillian likes. Information about her new found romance is hard to come by. While attending a “Christmas tree” lighting event in China, Gillian again declined to disclose additional information about her boyfriend, and exhibited her usual awkwardness in handling the press. After Edison Chen’s (陳冠希) sex scandal a few years ago, where Gillian’s and a few other artists’ sexually explicit photos were upload on the internet, her squeaky-clean image was completely damaged. When the scandal surfaced in 2008, she responded that she was “very silly and naive” as the reason for agreeing to take the photos. Gillian’s response was ridiculed and her popularity plummeted. Publicity Stunt? Fast forward to 4 years later, Gillian is once again in the limelight after being caught dating a Korean man, known only as Mr. K. Gillian’s manager, Mani Fok (霍汶希), was well prepared to handle press questions and quickly confirmed that Gillian is indeed dating. The timing of Gillian’s new romance coincided with the release of her new Mandarin music album and the promotion of her movie Love Retake <愛情不NG>. Photos of Gillian’s new love magically appeared out of nowhere; rumors suggest that Gillian’s “date” was intentionally leaked to the press. Was it a publicity stunt to coincide with all the recent happenings to promote Gillian, whose appearance and popularity in Hong Kong has declined dramatically? Or did the paparazzi simply get lucky? Gillian maintained her secrecy over her boyfriend’s identity since her dating photos surfaced two weeks ago. Instead of sitting down with the media and satisfying everyone’s curiosity, Gillian only disclosed a small bit of information about her newly found romance. Reporters left no stones unturned in trying to figure out who Gillian’s new boyfriend is. By piecing various bits of information together, it is now reported that Mr. K is a businessman, not a resident of Hong Kong, and a frequent flier. Mr. K communicates with Gillian in English, and will be spending Christmas with his family instead of with her. Cannot Handle the Media During a promotional event in Guangzhou, Gillian was awkward in fielding questions from the press. She had to rely on her Public Relations colleague to deflect the questions. Gillian even told reporters to focus on the products of the events, instead of directing personal questions on herself. Gillian still has so much to learn in dealing with the media.
