Michael Tse's Cross-dressing Goes Down Well but Turns Down Ad Offers TVB series "The Family Link" will be airing its finale this week and in order to resolve all the dangers to the family, the three 'husbands' in the show Michael Tse, Derek Kok and Al Wai presented their 'wives' with a special peace offering yesterday and allowed them to seek revenge, the ladies Sheren Tang, Cecilia Yip and Kiki Sheung subjected them to a walk down a pebble path, kneeling on a durian, putting a potty on their heads and then brushing their teeth with wasabi... all in the name of promotion. The cast announced last weeks ratings averaging at 34 points and peaking at 40 points, proving to be the most popular series in the earlier 8:30 timeslot this year. TVB General Manager Stephen Chan was also there to suppor them, but there will not be any banquets for them as this is only a 20 episode series, just a celebration party. Will there be a sequel? Mr Chan hopes for something completely new. When it was revealed that his argument scenes with Sheren that pulled in the most viewers, Michael indicated he is very happy and asked if he is confident of breaking the records set by "Heart of Greed", he says: "I have not thought about it. 'Heart' has captured the attentions of the viewers and is a rarity for the year." As for his cross-dressing being accepted well, with even offers of advertising contracts of him in his ladies clothing, he indicated that the company did not want him to do any ads with this image, so the job was declined even before a fee was discussed. He also does not really want people to accept him dressed as a woman. So how much would he do it for? He says: "I wish to make money with my male identity and not wearing a bra." Kiki received two bunches of flowers and revealed that they were a gift from some online fans. She says happily: "I was very surprised. They are all university students and have been supporting me for a long time and they used cardboard to make a book for me with all my series info in it. Unfortunately I have never had the chance to meet them, but they always send me little gifts. This is the first time they have sent flowers. (Are you confident of beating the ratings for 'Heart' with your finale?) Yes. (But the public may be out and not watching?) I am not worried, it is a finale after all and I hope it will break the ratings set by 'Heart'." Cecilia's acting is of award-winning calibre, but there have been criticisms that her acting in this show was exaggerated. She explains: "I acted it with the calmest of approaches, if that is still classed as exaggerated, then the boundaries seem to be quite wide. I don't mind though, everyone has their own opinions and the most important thing is that people are talking. She believes that the complaining netizens are favouring the other type of housewife, so they brand her character as dislikeable and bad, but she is only doing what a lot of normal people do. As for a change to her normal role types for is she unhappy at playing the bad person in this show? Cecilia laughs that when she first heard she would be working with Sheren, she was very happy and she cherishes the opportunity, so even before she received the script, she accepted the role. Afterwards when she read the first four episodes and found that her character was so despicable, she discussed this with the producer, who told her not to be afraid, saying this would bring her to the attention of even more viewers, but she is still quite suspicious of his words. Asked if she feels cheated? She continues to smile: "No, I agreed to this project of my own accord and I had nothing to say as I had accepted. (Do you mind people disliking you?) No, just that this was different from my original understanding. I will look at the whole picture and it was good fun during filming. (Are you unhappy about the lack of screentime?) No, but I just feel misled about the character's direction." Asked about whether she thought Cecilia's acting was exaggerated, Sheren says that they felt it was ok whilst they worked together. As for her lack of screentime, Sheren says that she will not have this problem because working with the children was hard work and she would rather have more time to sleep. Asked if she is afraid of being accused of being complacent? She smiles: "No,I do admire Cecilia and I remember in a scene where she and Fala Chen fell into the water, there were press there throughout the shoot. If that was me, I would be sour-faced because I would be worried about my make-up being washed away or revealing myself, but she worked very hard at it and was very professional, so I do admire her. I have met with this situation before, but my principle is the same as hers,if you have accepted a job, then you have to put your heart into it and work even harder to put it right. This is the more intelligent solution." Producer Lam Chi Wah does not feel that Cecilia's character is dislikable and says that some people find her cute: "I feel that the screentime between the three ladies is very even and as for some people's reaction, this was unexpected, but it only reflects some of the viewers who are netizens and not other groups. (Did Cecilia ask to change the script?) We discussed it and I did make some changes for her, but everyone else did this too and not just her." He also revealed that the finale will feature Cecilia suffering from an STD and the situation will pull at people's sympathies, helping her image with them. Will there be a sequel? He says it depends on the audience response before they decide.
