The many loves of Rosamund Kwan

Actress Rosamund Kwan revealed a sad childhood during the interview for Phoenix TV's A Date With Luyu.
Actress Rosamund Kwan revealed a sad childhood during the interview for Phoenix TV's A Date With Luyu. PHOTO: APPLE DAILY

HONG KONG • In a rare interview, actress Rosamund Kwan has opened up about her varied love life.

When asked by talk-show host Chen Luyu which of her relationships was with the love of her life, Kwan, 54, answered: "Every one was my favourite. That's past, it's history."

Which break-up was the most painful then? Hinting at her divorce from billionaire Pierre Chen, she said: "In the past, it was more dramatic. I might be sad one or two days. This time it's longer because we lived together for a long time - seven years!"

So she was sad "maybe more than two days".

Although the beauty is no longer acting, intimations of her love life still keep the media busy. A year after she announced her split with Chen, 59, in 2015, she was rumoured to be dating Super Junior-M singer Zhou Mi, 30, but she said they were just friends.

In the interview for Phoenix TV's A Date With Luyu, which was due to air last night, Kwan also talked about money and family, said Oriental Daily News.

Addressing rumours about her materialism, she said: "People say I'm greedy for money; what does it mean? Who doesn't have to eat? If my boyfriend is rich or more successful, does it mean I'm greedy for his money? Can't it be that he's greedy for my fame?"

Her marriage to Chen was her second. She had been briefly married to businessman Chris Wong in 1981, said Apple Daily. Her boyfriends, rumoured or confirmed, include tycoon Joseph Lau and model Jimmy Wong.

Kwan, the daughter of actors Kwan Shan and Chang Ping-sie, said she had a sad childhood and was no pampered princess, contrary to what people believe.

Her parents divorced when she was 18. When they later left Hong Kong, she lived alone. She also revealed that when she was 13, her father was not home when her little brother, playing with lighters, started a fire in the study. She put it out with an extinguisher.

Because her parents were not good at investing, she started working part-time at a young age to support the family and also entered show business.

"Actually, it was really hard. In the first year, I shot five to six TV dramas and two movies. I was really going crazy, sleeping only two to three hours a day, drifting to and fro like a ghost. I didn't enjoy that process."

She said she had no money to go to university and realise her childhood dream to become an interior designer. "I dreamt a lot, but didn't realise it," she added. "I had no choice."

In 1984, she was rumoured to be the third party in businessman William Ma and actress Maggie Chan's failed marriage, said Apple Daily.

Asked about it, Kwan said: "I didn't take the initiative. I can't stop people from doing anything for me."

But she added that she had regrets because she hurt someone.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on February 23, 2017, with the headline The many loves of Rosamund Kwan. Subscribe