• Beauty
  • Fashion
  • Life
  • Women
  • Beauty Awards
  • Weddings
  • Beauty
    • Beauty
    • Makeup
    • Skin
    • Hair
    • Body & Fragrances
    • Aesthetics & Services
    • Best Of Beauty
    • Reviews
  • Fashion
    • Fashion
    • Shopping
    • Trends & Tips
    • Style Files
    • Watches & Jewellery
  • Life
    • Life
    • Food
    • Entertainment
    • Wellness
    • Travel
    • Tech
    • Sex & Love
    • Stuff to do
  • Women
    • Women
    • Women Now
    • Career
    • Money
  • #HERWORLDHERSTORY
  • Weddings
    • Weddings
    • Gowns & Suits
    • Ideas & Advice
    • Real Weddings
    • Love Nest
    • Luxe
    • Home
  • Beauty Awards
  • SPA AWARDS
  • HAIR AWARDS
  • Woman of the year
  • Age Is Just A Number
  • Video
Subscribe!
  • Also available at:
Privacy Menu
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertising with Us
  • Conditions of Access
  • PDPA
  • Privacy Statement
SPH Media

MCI (P) 039/12/2022. Published by SPH Media Limited, Co. Regn. No. 202120748H. Copyright © 2023 SPH Media Limited. All rights reserved.

  • Beauty
  • Fashion
  • Life
  • Women
  • Beauty Awards
  • Weddings

Entertainment

Asian celeb couples with large age gaps; Jay Chou, 42 and Hannah Quinlivan, 27

E / Entertainment

Asian celeb couples with large age gaps; Jay Chou, 42 and Hannah Quinlivan, 27

Talk about taking the leap for love

by Letty Seah & Lim Ruey Yan  /   March 11, 2021
asian celeb couples age gap

Credit: Jay Chou/Instagram

When it comes to falling in love, age is nothing but a number. Love does not discriminate and this is true whether you are an average joe or a popular actor or singer.

While a wide age gap may have outsiders scratching their heads, these celeb couples choose to let their heart lead the way. From the 15 years between Jay Chou and Hannah Quinlivan to the 31 years between Gordon Chan and Jelly Xia, these Asian stars have found their match in partners more than 10 years older than them. So, did love conquer all? Scroll down to find out.

READ NEXT

Motherhood at 40: Celeb mums who gave birth in their 40s

17 businesses that are run by local celebrities

Jacelyn Tay, Ya Hui and other celebs’ empowering quotes on being single

https://www.herworld.com/gallery/life/entertainment/asian-celeb-couples-big-age-gaps/
Asian celeb couples with large age gaps; Jay Chou, 42 and Hannah Quinlivan, 27
Jay Chou (42) and Hannah Quinlivan (27)
image

Since 2011, Mandopop King Jay Chou and Taiwanese-Australian model Hannah Quinlivan have been pretty close. In 2015, they decided to hunker down and get married in an extravagant wedding in Yorkshire, Northern England.

There is a 15-year difference between the two and when they first started dating, Hannah was just 17. Since then, the two have both come a long way personally and professionally and currently have two children together, Hathaway (born in 2015) and Romeo (born in 2017).

Jay Chou/Instagram
Ham So-won (44) and Chen Hua (26)
image

South Korean actress Ham So-won made the headlines for marrying a man 18 years her junior in 2018, Chinese Internet celebrity and former idol trainee Chen Hua. Sceptics were not optimistic about their marriage due to their age gap.

Both their parents had also opposed their relationship, with Chen’s father even threatening to sever ties with him. The couple have a three-year-old daughter.

Recently, Ham has reacted to rumours that her marriage is on the rocks. On Feb 26, Ham posted three photos on her Instagram account, including one of her and Chen kissing and a wefie.

Though she acknowledged there are differences between them, she wrote in Korean: “We married for love. In our love, there are no obstacles of age, other people’s gazes and national borders.”

Ham, famous for acting in the movie Sex Is Zero (2002), added: “I love you, but there is also the process of setting up the family. I will protect the family. Please trust me and wait for a while.”

A report by South Korean media outlet Sports Chosun on Feb 24 quoted a source saying that the couple had decided to separate as their relationship had deteriorated rapidly. Ham initially declined to comment on the report, but later told the media that couples go through good and bad times.

She and Chen appeared on Taste Of Wife on Feb 23, a reality television show in which celebrity couples seek to find joys of daily lives through cooking and eating. But Chen has not appeared on Ham’s Instagram Live in recent months, adding fuel to speculation that all is not well with their marriage.

HAM SO-WON/INSTAGRAM
Gordon Chan (61) and Jelly Xia (30)
image

Hong Kong director Gordon Chan sparked some excitement on Jan 18 when he updated his relationship status on Facebook to “married”.

The Hong Kong media reported in June 2019 that Chan had registered his marriage to Chinese actress Jelly Xia, 30, in Hong Kong.

The 61-year-old had admitted that he was dating Xia when they were spotted together by the media in 2018. He also revealed to the media on his birthday in 2020 that Xia had given birth to their baby daughter a few days earlier.

Chan, who won Best Director at the Hong Kong Film Awards for Beast Cops (1998), is famous for directing movies such as The Yuppie Fantasia (1989), Fight Back To School (1991) and Fist Of Legend (1994) .

He got to know Xia when he was directing the Chinese movie Mural (2011). The relatively unknown Xia also acted in The Four movie trilogy (2012 to 2014) directed by him.

Chan was married to former actress Vindy Chan, 53, from 1994 to 1997. He got to know her when he directed the movie Brief Encounter In Shinjuku (1990). They have two children.

PHOTO: SINA ENTERTAINMENT/WEIBO
Kenneth Ma (47) and Roxanne Tong (34)
custom

Hong Kong actor Kenneth Ma has been linked to an actress whose surname is Tong since he broke up with actress Jacqueline Wong in 2019, reported The Straits Times.

It turned out to be Roxanne Tong instead of Natalie Tong as previously rumoured.

In June 2020, he was photographed by the media driving to Roxanne Tong’s house. He stayed at her apartment for about four hours before they were seen leaving together for a shopping trip at about 8pm.

Both Ma, 47, and Tong, 34, admitted to their relationship a few hours later. They posted a photo of a toy unicorn and a toy white horse on their respective Instagram accounts with the caption, “Thanks for the care”, and tagged each other in the posts.

The actor was approached by Hong Kong media when he reported for work at TVB City, the headquarters of broadcaster TVB.

He said they have been dating for about two months and have met each other’s parents. He added that he liked Tong’s character and that his mother liked her too.

Ma and Tong had previously acted together in the psychological crime drama My Dearly Sinful Mind (2017).

“We did not keep in touch much after filming My Dearly Sinful Mind,” he said. “But we met up recently and felt that we could develop our relationship further. I am not young either.”

Tong is the daughter of veteran actor Tong Chun Chung and niece of actor Kent Tong.

Tong Chun Chung, 64, told the media that he was very satisfied with his daughter’s boyfriend and rated Ma “100 marks”.

Roxanne Tong is a good friend of Wong’s. They both took part in the Miss Hong Kong Pageant in 2012, where Wong was the first runner-up and Tong finished in the top six.

And Tong took over Wong’s role in television serial Forensic Heroes IV after Wong was caught kissing married singer Andy Hui last year.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by R O X A N N E 湯 洛 雯 (@roxannetong) on Jun 12, 2020 at 9:00am PDT

Aaron Kwok (55) and Moka Fang (33)
image

This adorable couple are separated by a whopping 23-year age difference, but thanks to Hong Kong superstar Aaron Kwok’s boyish good looks, it doesn’t show.

Either way, the “Heavenly King” and his Shanghainese model wife are in love, and have two young daughters, Chantelle and Charlotte. The couple have been extremely low-key about their marriage and only held a private 10-table banquet for their wedding that took place in April 2017.

Aaron Kwok and Moka Fang/Instagram
Lee Byung-hun (50) and Lee Min-jung (39)
image

This beautiful pair has an 11 year age gap, but love is love and their marriage has lasted a full 5 years with plenty of ups and downs. South Korean actress Lee Min-jung has been married to A-list actor husband Lee Byung-hun, their union has produced a 3-year-old son, but has also been marred by a blackmail scandal. Two female entertainers were charged in court after threatening to upload a video in which the actor made inappropriate comments to them. While Lee Min-jung did not address the controversy, she alluded to it when sharing her tip for maintaining a relationship.

“Every relationship has problems but you don’t throw it away when it’s not working. You fix it, just like how everyone used to fix their telephones and television sets. These days, people just throw them away and buy new ones,” she said in an interview with The Straits Times.

Lee Min-jung/Instagram
Nicky Wu (50) and Liu Shi Shi (34)
image

In 2009, Taiwanese actor-singer Nicky Wu divorced his wife Chinese actress Ma Yashu after a three-year marriage. Two years later, he was ready to try his hand at love again with someone new. He found that with Chinese actress Liu Shi Shi.

The reel-to-real couple first locked eyes on the set of the popular drama “Scarlet Heart”, the 2011 drama that recharged Nicky Wu’s career. In 2016, at a wedding that fans hailed as the “best special episode”, Nicky Wu exchanged his vows with his co-star Liu Shi Shi at a lavish Bali resort.

Nicky Wu/Instagram
Huang Xiaoming (43) and Angelababy (32)
image

Chinese actor Huang Xiaoming and his wife and fellow actress Angelababy might have an age difference of 12 years but they never stray very far from each other – or their four-year-old son.

The two first met at a Karaoke room in 2009, when Huang Xiaoming was in Taiwan filming the drama series, “Summer’s Desire”. They began dating shortly after and tied the knot in a gorgeous wedding in 2015, when Huang Xiaoming was 37 and Angelababy was 25. In recent months, there have been rumours about a rift between the couple, as people noted that they have not been interacting with each other in public events like Weibo Night, and on social media.

Angelababy/Instagram
Tang Wei (41) and Kim Tae Yong (51)
image

Chinese actress Tang Wei who catapulted to fame through Ang Lee’s “Lust Caution” met her Korean film director husband through the 2009 film “Late Autumn” as actress and director, respectively.

They have been harmoniously married since 2014, and have a daughter together. The only thing that separates them? Their 10-year age gap. Not that it will stop them from loving each other.

 

Tang Wei/Facebook
Mina (48) and Ryu Philip (31)
image

Singer Mina and former idol from now-defunct idol group SoReal have 17 years between them, and she is well aware of the age difference. In an interview with OSEN, the singer broke down in tears and revealed that she couldn’t help but feel guilty about Ryu not living up to his full potential because of her and she hopes that she can be a great support to him to repay the burden she has put into his life.

Despite their much-talked about age gap, it seems the two are going strong. Their relationship didn’t even falter during Ryu Philip’s mandatory military service. The couple tied the knot in 2018.

Read Next

13 Asian celeb-approved beauty tips for women in their 30s

#10YearChallenge: The celebrity couples' throwback photos that'll make you go awww

How Son Ye-jin maintains her slim figure and flawless skin

Ryu Philip/Instagram
  • TAGS:
  • asian celebrities
  • celeb couples
  • celebrities older men
  • celebrities younger men
  • celebrities younger women
SHARE THIS ON

T / Trending

Life

50 Korean dramas of all time that'll always keep you coming back ...

Life

12 Asian celebs with striking lookalikes, you may not be able to ...

Life

11 things you didn't know about Son Ye-jin

Life

Promising Young Woman: Actor Chen Yixin's struggle with self-conf...

Life

How your favourite local celebs celebrated Christmas

Life

50 best K-dramas of all time to binge watch

Life

Kim Lim confirms split from second husband after two months of ge...

Life

Single's Inferno season 2: Where to follow the cast on Instagram

Life

From Sheila Sim to Chrissy Teigen, these are the celebs that are ...

Life

Rebecca Lim ties the knot in star-studded wedding

Life

Why Gianna Jun Ji-hyun is such an inspiration to us

Life

Why you might spot Jackson Wang at a Pasar Malam near you 

Highlights
  • Food Elevate your CNY celebrations with premium steamboat brot...
  • Life Are your everyday work heels causing you distress?
  • Awards This salon promises to bleach your hair...without damagin...
Editor’s Picks
  • Entertainment 50 Korean dramas of all time that'll always keep you comi...
  • Entertainment 11 things you didn't know about Son Ye-jin
  • Skin Want to look young even after 40? Here's how these Asian ...
  • Style Files Korean celebs who are ambassadors of designer brands
Newsletter Subscribe
Sign up for one of our free newsletters to receive the latest news, commentary and fashion features straight from Her World.

By signing up, you indicate that you have read and agreed with our Privacy Statement
Footer Menu
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise With Us
  • PDPA
  • Conditions of Access
  • Privacy Statement
SPH Media

MCI (P) 039/12/2022. Published by SPH Media Limited, Co. Regn. No. 202120748H. Copyright © 2023 SPH Media Limited. All rights reserved.