BEIJING • Even a multi-award winning actress could not escape the fate of being torn between her parents and the man she loves.

Zhang Ziyi, 40, who shot to international fame with movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, told her fellow cast members on a reality travel programme that her parents had disapproved of her marriage to Chinese rock singer Wang Feng, 47, as he is a divorcee with children.

Zhang and Wang got married in 2015. They have a three-year-old daughter, who is known by her nickname Xingxing.

Wang is twice divorced. He has a daughter with his second wife and another with an ex-girlfriend. This is Zhang's first marriage.

"I couldn't mention his name," said Zhang in an episode of Viva La Romance Season 2 telecast last Thursday, recalling her strained relationship with her parents.

After Zhang and Wang got married, they moved into an apartment below her parents'.

The proximity led to one awkward lift encounter during the Mid- Autumn Festival, a day of reunion among Chinese families.

The celebrity couple were riding a lift in their apartment building when the lift door opened and they came face to face with her parents.

"I was so embarrassed, and I said, 'We were on our way to visit you,'" said Zhang.

On the same show, Wang described how he won over his inlaws by showering them with attention and treating them like friends.

"At the beginning, her mother insisted that there be no mention of my name. But now she will fight whoever talks bad about me," said Wang.

Zhang's candid revelation caused a stir on social media, with netizens asking whether one could accept a divorcee with kids. At least 20,000 users on blogging website Sina Weibo yesterday shared the hashtag #ZhangZiyisParentsOpposed-HerMarriageToWangFeng.