VETERAN show host Marcus Chin's female assistant has admitted their romance, a day after Chin announced on TV that he and his wife of 23 years are divorcing.

The assistant Eileen Xie, 24, told a Shin Min Daily News reporter over the phone yesterday morning: 'We are cockroaches that cannot be beaten to death.'

Her statement suggested tenacity in the face of criticism after Chin, 56, appeared on Channel 8 variety show Go Live! on Monday night to address reports of their alleged '5624' affair.

He has been linked with Xie since January but had refused to comment earlier.

On Monday's show, he told host Guo Liang that he and former Taiwanese singer Murong Ying started divorce proceedings last October and that Xie was officially hired only this January.

Read the full story in Thursday's edition of The Straits Times