Here’s How Much These Stars Were Rumoured To Have Earned From Their Variety Show Stints In China
Get ready to feel poor.
If you thought Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu and her Chinese tycoon husband Wang Xiaofei’s reported S$3.95mil variety show appearance fee was ridiculously high, wait till you see what other stars were said to have made from their past gigs. As the Chinese saying goes: “There’s always a mountain higher ” (or in this case, a higher-paid celeb) — although, we’d take the figures with a pinch of salt.
Faye Wong
Chinese singer Faye Wong isn’t just fiercely private when it comes to her personal life (remember when she responded to questions about her divorce from her first ex-husband Dou Wei with “What’s that got to do with you?”, a dismissive line so iconic that even her teenage daughter Li Yan has it on a phone case?). The 51-year-old is also very selective when it comes to her television appearances, which is why her reality show debut in 2018’s PhantaCity sparked quite the media frenzy.
While Faye claimed that she chose to join the show as it “relaxed” her, some speculated that her enormous paycheck also had something to do with it. Back then, there were rumours that she took home a whopping NT$480mil (about S$22.5mil), which would have been one of the highest amounts a star has ever received for being in a variety show.
However, both the PhantaCity production team and Faye’s reps have denied reports of the amount being so high. Maybe she was ‘only’ given S$21.5mil? Just kidding.
A-mei
Also rumoured to be paid very, very handsomely for a variety show stint was Taiwanese pop queen A-mei, who has served as a mentor on two reality singing competitions. In 2012, she was on the all-star judging panel for the second season of The Voice of China (which has since been rebranded as Sing! China), and her appearance fee was reportedly NT$4mil (S$187,000), which is extremely modest compared to all the other numbers listed here.
Fast forward to 2016, and she took on another music programme, Sound of My Dream, which also supposedly came with a massive pay raise from what she made on Voice. Media reports alleged that the 48-year-old received not just NT$225mil (S$10.5mil), but also a sponsorship for her concert tour. Alas, like Faye, the speculations were debunked by A-mei’s management agency as well.
We don’t think her actual salary is that far off from those insane figures, though. How else would she be able to afford multiple multimillion-dollar homes, including a S$21.6mil mansion?
Liu Ye (with his family)
Popular reality show Where Are We Going, Dad? has featured many famous fathers, such as Wu Chun, Jordan Chan, Francis Ng, and Jimmy Lin, embarking on all sorts of adventures with their adorable kids over the years. However, the only one who seems to have made headlines for his remuneration is Chinese actor Liu Ye, who was featured in the third season with his son Noé (also known as Nuoyi), now nine.
According to reports, the award-winning thespian, who is married to French photographer Anais Martane and also has an eight-year-old daughter, had his appearance fee calculated on a daily basis and commanded at least NT$20mil (S$932,000) per day, making the 42-year-old the highest paid guest star of the season. This means he’d only need to work for less than a week to make as much as what Barbie and Xiaofei are supposedly charging to go on a variety show together.
Let’s hope this doesn’t inspire Barbie Hsu and Wang Xiaofei to increase their rates
Photos: PhantaCity/Weibo, A-mei/Weibo, Liu Ye/Weibo, Happiness Trio/Weibo
