Jackson Wang, 31, Reveals Why He Still Lives With His Parents

It’s no secret that Hong Kong star Jackson Wang, 31, is very close to his parents.  Since debuting as part of K-pop boyband GOT7 over a decade ago, Jackson has, in several instances, spoken about how his folks supported him in chasing his dreams.

Jackson’s father was an Olympian fencer, and his mother, a former Chinese national team gymnast. He also has an older brother.

During a recent appearance on the Zach Sang Show podcast, Jackson shared why he hasn't moved out to live on his own yet. 

“I still live with my parents in Shanghai. I have some friends — their parents are not with them anymore. And just observing that pattern of how they visit their parents, it’s always some sh** that happens, [their parents] are sick, then they fly back. That triggered me too."

"When we grow up, we start to have our own careers, we have our lives, we get married, we’re in our own bubble and we tend to forget [our parents] because of the thought that they’ll always be there.”

For many of his friends only visiting their family during special occasions like Christmas would become a habit.

“I just want to be with my parents more often too, because they sacrificed their entire lives raising me and my brother when they could have done something else. They gave up a lot of things just for us, and I feel like it’s my turn now as a son,” he continued.

Jackson also revealed that his father, who became a fencing coach, did not go easy on him when it came to the sport. In his teens, Jackson was an Olympic-level fencer and represented Hong Kong in the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics. 

“Imagine the stress growing up. You know professional coaches, they always look at your weaknesses. They don’t really compliment on your strengths because they don’t feel like there’s a need to point them out,” said Jackson.

“Sometimes, my mum would be giving me love on the side. But dad was always very strict,” he added with a smile.

Now that he’s older, Jackson doesn’t have any trouble telling his parents how much he appreciates them.

“Throughout our entire lives, we always think our parents would figure it out. We never tend to remember that when our parents had us, they had no idea how to be mum and dad. They had their youth too, they partied, they had dreams too. But when they had us, it changed their lives,” said Jackson.

His friends, who were raised more conservatively, have a hard time telling their parents ‘I love you’. 

“For me, I always say [‘I love you’] to my parents.”

In fact, Jackson's song ‘Sophie Ricky’ is named after his mum and dad, and it has a line that goes ‘Who would I become without your love’.