SINGAPORE - More details have emerged about actor-model Godfrey Gao's last moments before he died while filming a reality show in China's Zhejiang province on Wednesday (Nov 27). The 35-year-old was said to be unwell when he attended an event in Taiwan on Monday.
Taiwanese actor-singer Gabriel Lan said Gao appeared to have a flu.
However, the Taiwan-born model-actor, who was known for his professionalism, reported for Zhejiang Television's reality show Chase Me as scheduled at 8.30am on Tuesday for pre-production preparations, according to Taiwan's Want Daily.
The show focuses on physical tasks for its contestants.
He reportedly looked well as filming continued through the night.
Netizens who were present at the show said that the filming lasted till early morning on Wednesday before Gao said "I can't continue anymore" and then fainted.
According to his agency, JetStar Entertainment, he was reportedly rushed to hospital, where he died after nearly three hours.
Chase Me's official Weibo account posted a statement, stating that Gao, who was a guest on the show, died while filming the ninth episode.
He had been running when he suddenly collapsed at about 1.45am on Wednesday.
He was estimated by Want Daily to have worked almost non-stop for 17 hours before he collapsed.
According to the Chase Me statement, medical staff on the show immediately attended to Gao and he was rushed to the hospital, where sudden cardiac death was pronounced.
Sudden cardiac death is described by American medical institution Cleveland Clinic as a sudden, unexpected death caused by a loss of heart function.
According to Ming Pao Daily News, Gao's body has been moved to Ningbo Funeral House in Zhejiang. His manager said his parents have arrived in Ningbo and his family has not decided whether to cremate his body in China or send the body back to Taiwan.
His manager added that Gao's girlfriend Bella Su had not arrived in China and denied media reports that she had been engaged to Gao.
Zhejiang Television has since announced that it has stopped filming the night-time reality series.
It also clarified that its staff provided immediate assistance to Gao when he lost consciousness.
In Gao's final post on China's Twitter-like Weibo on Tuesday, he congratulated Chinese idol series The Gravity Of A Rainbow for being nominated as one of the top 100 television series of 2019 by Weibo.
He starred as a professor with high IQ in the show and the last episode is slated to air next week.
Entertainers such as JJ Lin, Cyndi Wang, Will Pan, Eric Chou, Sonia Sui and Blackie Chen posted all-black photos on Instagram as they mourned the death of Gao.
Meanwhile, Chinese singer Li Wenhan, a member of Chinese boyband Unine, reportedly suffered a serious injury to his ankle while filming the show on the same day as Gao.
Li was spotted by fans in a wheelchair at the airport late on Wednesday, with a bandaged ankle.
Fans said the injury is likely to affect his scheduled performances in December.
