When former Hong Kong actress Chingmy Yau took part in the Miss Hong Kong Pageant at the age of 19 in 1987, she was one of the favourites to win.

However, she was thwarted after a magazine broke the news that she had cosmetic surgery on her chin, naming one of the contestants, Canary Wong, as the source.

Yau explained then that she had a fall when she was young and later had corrective surgery, but she quit the competition eventually due to the pressure from the fallout.

The pageant was eventually won by Pauline Yeung, with Wong being placed among the top 10.

Now, 33 years later, Wong, 54, has clarified that she was not the one who leaked the news.

Last Saturday, she appeared on a talk show hosted by Wing Lam - who was the second runner-up then - and said she was totally unaware of the matter until the magazine story ran.

Wong, who is known for playing Hong Kong superstar Andy Lau's ex-girlfriend in the 1988 movie As Tears Go By, said it was a misunderstanding that she would tell on Yau to gain an advantage over her.

"I ignored the matter at that time as I thought it was absurd and I was also busy with the training," she said on the show.

Wong only realised the severity of the matter on the night of the finals, when her cousin called her to say that she had been cast in a bad light by the media.

She did not think much about it after the pageant, as she began to receive invitations to act in TV serials.

"I do feel a tinge of regret not clarifying it at that time, as I would always be mentioned whenever the matter of Yau taking part in the beauty contest was brought up," she added.

Yau, 52, has so far not reacted to Wong's explanation. The former actress, known for her sexy image in the late 1980s and 1990s, was once described as one of the four beauties of TVB together with Yeung, Elizabeth Lee and Lam, the top three winners of Miss Hong Kong 1987.

Yau bowed out of the entertainment scene after marrying fashion mogul Sham Kar Wai in 1999. The couple have three daughters.