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FAT OR FIT?: Nicky Wu recently came in for a spot of fat-shaming by netizens who said he looked plump on a television show.
Probably to silence his detractors, the Taiwanese actor then posted a video of himself doing a mid-air split.
Wu, 51, had appeared as a guest on Chinese variety show Let's Go Skiing, which debuted last month, and showed off his skiing skills. But his face looked round and he looked big sitting next to Hong Kong actress Angelababy.
Some fans said he looked very different from when he was with Taiwanese boy band The Little Tigers in the late 1980s and 1990s.
Others said he had gained weight since 2011, when he played the Qing-Dynasty prince who would become Emperor Yongzheng in the Chinese drama Scarlet Heart.
Some wondered if it was because he was wearing a thick sweater on the show, while others defended him and said he did not deserve the unkind remarks as he was already in his early 50s.
Wu did not react publicly to the chatter, but posted on Weibo last Friday a video of himself jumping thrice before doing a split leap.
Several fans praised him on Weibo for his fitness. Wu reacted to the comments and joked that he was a ''flexible fat man'' and an ''unusual old man''.
His fitness should not come as a surprise, as he practised judo and taekwondo before debuting as part of The Little Tigers, and his somersaults earned him the nickname ''Thunderbolt Tiger''.
