While the public is all fired up over Sire Ma’s (馬賽) poor handling of her latest rumor, good friend Samantha Ko (高海寧) instead sends her support, believing that true love knows no gender. Samantha and Sire were both participants in the 2008 Miss Hong Kong Beauty Pageant. Although Samantha failed to place in the top three, her voluptuous body and sexy image earned her a spot in TVB’s lineup. While her initial work was mainly dictated by her looks, Samantha has slowly proven herself with more serious, challenging roles in recent years, earning favorable reviews and a more positive public image. Samantha and Sire developed and maintained a strong friendship since the beauty competition. When Sire was accused of being a third party between actor Adrian Chau (周志文) and his girlfriend CoCo Yuen (袁聖殷), Samantha did not hesitate to step up for her friend, calling the rumors impossible. Samantha herself had also been victimized by a fair share of fabricated stories. Last year, she was falsely accused of being involved with TVB’s major stakeholder Charles Chan (陳國強), a rumor that briefly discredited her personal career efforts. Since she had recently collaborated with Sire in Will Power <法外風雲>, Samantha was asked to comment on Sire’s lesbian love scandal. Although she was initially shocked by the passionate video footage, Samantha feels that she would be truly happy for Sire if the rumors turn out to be true. Understanding the stress stemming from their goddess status, Samantha urged Sire to face the scandal fearlessly. She also believes that Sire is not the type to toy with love in exchange for a movie deal, saying, “[Wang Ziqi 汪子琦] sought her out [to film] because of her acting abilities. This is unlikely the kind of relationship that everyone is thinking about.” Creds: Ming Pao