Cecilia Cheung Reveals She's Deaf In One Ear; Suspects It Could Be Hereditary

You'd never suspect Hong Kong star Cecilia Cheung is deaf in one ear, with her successful career in film and music.

The 45-year-old dropped the bombshell on a recent episode of Road Blossoms season two, where she was joined by other stars such as Carina Lau, Ning Jing, Liu Xiaoqing, and He Saifei. 

The topic came up when Xiaozhuang Epic actress Ning Jing asked Cecilia if she was proficient in speaking English.

“Your pronunciation sounds clear, but when you speak Mandarin, your mouth doesn’t seem to keep up. They say learning a language is related to listening, right?” asked Ning Jing.

Cecilia then revealed that she is deaf in one ear and suspects it could be hereditary.

Despite this, she still managed to have a singing career. 

Cecilia made her Cantopop debut in 1999 with her first EP, ‘No Matter How The Weather...Cloudy, Rainy or Sunny’ in 1999. She went on to release nine more albums over the years, with her last record, ‘C1’, dropping in 2005.

She also opened up about her family background, something she rarely talks about.

The ‘Real Me’ singer shared that both her paternal grandparents were deaf and mute, so she learned sign language from a young age to communicate with them.

With her father often away, Cecilia was tasked with taking care of her grandparents and says she developed a habit of nodding to show she understood their gestures.

Cecilia also joked that her father’s side of the family tended to speak loudly, using a lot of hand gestures, because of her grandparents.

Netizens were floored by Cecilia’s revelation, many praising her strength and empathy.

“Such an inspiring story. It is so challenging to be deaf while still needing to learn sign language to communicate with her elders,” read a comment.

Another wrote, “There is so much of her past that we don’t know. She is truly more resilient than people realise".

Photos: Star ETToday, iQiyi