Dai Xiangyu says bride was so moved, she cried
Little Nyonya star Dai Xiangyu marries China actress Chen Zihan a day after the proposal.
Actor Dai Xiangyu, formerly known as Dai Yangtian, has married.
The 31-year-old China-born heart-throb, who shot to fame in Singapore after starring in the 2008 Channel 8 hit drama The Little Nyonya, is officially off the market.
And the lucky bride? China actress Chen Zihan, 38, his co-star in the Chinese drama Pearl Earrings that was filmed last year.
They have been dating for about a year and registered their marriage yesterday. He had proposed the day before.
Chen has starred in Chinese TV dramas like The Return Of The Condor Heroes (2006), Madame White Snake (2006) and New Mad Monk (2014).
Dai told the local media over the phone from Beijing in Mandarin: “She’s a girl that everyone thinks is sexy, but she’s not. It’s because of her appearances and her roles (on screen). She’s actually very cute.
“We feel that the time has come for us to be married.”
Dai, who has about 300,000 followers on Sina Weibo, admitted that Chen, who has more than four million followers, is “more successful” than him.
He denied that it was a shotgun marriage and said he hopes to have two children, a boy and a girl, in the future.
On popping the question, Dai said: “I was quite confident that she would say yes.”
He spent about a month preparing for the big day. He rented a studio and worked with a production crew to pretend there was a job for Chen. When she arrived, he played a video of their heart-warming moments together before coming out with a bouquet.
Family and friends were involved. They wore shirts that said “Marry Dai”.
He added: “She was so moved, she cried. I was moved too, but I had to finish what I had to say, so I couldn’t get too emotional.”
Chinese news sites Sina Entertainment and Jiangsu have reported on their marriage. According to Chinese news sites People and Wangyi Entertainment, Dai had the five-carat engagement ring custom-made.
It has been a “hectic” two days for the couple, especially since the proposal and marriage registration were back to back.
He said: “Usually, the period of time between the proposal and the registration of marriage is quite long.
“By doing this (back to back), I’m breaking (with) convention.”
He said there will be a proper wedding ceremony in December in his home country, where he has been pursuing an acting career since leaving Singapore for Shanghai in 2011.
“I think it’ll be my family and friends flying over from Singapore to China for (the wedding),” he said.
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