Former Mediacorp actor Zhang Zhenxuan got married, had baby last year

Former Mediacorp artiste Zhang Zhenxuan, formerly known as Zhang Zhenhuan, has had a good 2020 despite the global pandemic.

The Chinese actor, who returned to China in 2018 after a 10-year acting career here, got married and had a baby with Ms Sally Pan, whom he met while she was studying in Singapore.

"I thought about taking my son back to Singapore for a short stay and also to meet my old friends," he said in an interview with Lianhe Zaobao published on Tuesday (Jan 19).

However, due to the travel restrictions, he did not do so.

Zhang, 36, was introduced to wife, who is 11 years his junior, by host Li Teng in 2016.

The couple got together two years later but have had a tumultuous relationship. They broke up a few times and even stopped following each other on Instagram in 2019.

However, he sneakily posted a photo on Instagram of her heavily pregnant in November last year, followed by a wedding photo a month later, in which the baby looked at least six months old.

While he has been coy about the exact dates of his marriage and the birth of his son last year, he has a wish for 2021: "I hope to be a better dad and take more jobs to earn milk powder money."

Milk powder money in Chinese refers to financial support for a child, including buying milk powder and other necessities.

The baby, named Zhang Gaoming in Chinese and Miro in English, is growing up bilingual, as both parents spent some time in Singapore.

"I speak English with my son at home and we both agree on the importance of a bilingual education," said the Sichuan native, who returned to China to pursue acting opportunities there.

He is currently on a break from filming due to the pandemic and is spending the time taking care of his son.

According to Lianhe Zaobao, the baby is said to be turning one in March as Zhang's wife had posted on social media that she would be holding a birthday party for him.

Due to the pandemic, he said he still "owes" his wife a proper wedding, although it may have to be a belated three-parter - one in Sichuan, one in Wenzhou, where she is from, and one in Singapore.

On fatherhood, he said: "I used to think I would be a great father, because before marriage I felt that the children liked me so much."

He soon realised that his wife was much better at taking care of his son. On the other hand, he was "quite good at washing baby bottles".