HONG KONG - What a small world.

Twins singer Gillian Chung has revealed that she, like actress Cecilia Cheung, bumped into an apologetic Edison Chen on a plane after the rapper's sleazy pictures of the women were stolen and circulated online.

Unlike Cheung - who made peace with Chen on a flight from Taipei to Hong Kong on Mother's Day in 2011 - Chung did not know how to face her former boyfriend and asked to change seats so she would not have to sit behind him, the singer was quoted as saying.

According to Sing Tao Daily and Nownews website, which cited Chung's interview with a magazine that was released on Sunday, Chen noticed her on the flight out of Hong Kong but did not disturb her. Instead, he wrote his former girlfriend a long apology letter on the spot, and had someone pass it to her later.

Chung was moved by Chen's sincerity, she was quoted as saying. "A belated apology is better than none. For me, it's a comfort."

The two, both 34, were in a secret relationship that was disclosed only when his X-rated photos of them in bed were leaked in 2008. She later admitted she had been with him on and off for four to five years, starting soon after she joined Emperor Entertainment Group in 2000 and became label mates with him.

Chen's photos of Cheung, 34, surfaced more than a year into her marriage to actor Nicholas Tse, 34. A year after the scandal broke, she berated Chen in an interview. But in 2011, the year she split up with Tse, she reached out to Chen when she saw him on the plane. She was said to have asked to sit with him and taken selfies with him.

Seven years after the scandal, Chung's career is still recovering. Her fellow Twins singer Charlene Choi has gone from strength and strength, and picked up a Hong Kong Film Award nomination for her new R-rated drama Sara.

Chung said she was not jealous of Choi, just thankful that Choi did not abandon her.