From The Straits Times    |
will pan married dating show

Credit: Will Pan/Instagram

If you haven’t heard, Taiwanese-American singer Will Pan is married. He announced on July 27 that he had tied the knot with 26-year-old Luna Xuan, whom he said he had been dating for five years.

But wait, something is not quite right. In 2017, Pan, 39, took part in Chinese celebrity dating show, We Are In Love (2015 to 2017), which means he and Xuan were already a couple then.

Alert netizens were quick to flag that the timeline did not add up.

A spin-off of the popular Korean dating show We Got Married (2008 to 2017), We Are In Love follows several eligible celebrity bachelors and bachelorettes, who are paired and sent to distant locations in the hopes of sparking romance.

Pan was paired with Chinese host Wu Xin, 37, in the show’s third season and had impressed viewers with his attentiveness and charisma. Fans hoped they would become an official couple.

The duo were known as the “koala couple” in the show. Koala is “wu wei xiong” in Mandarin and the pair have the Chinese characters “wu” and “wei” in their names. They even have a Weibo fan page dedicated to them. The page has since been removed.

However, after his marriage annoucement, fans are now condemning Pan for being “dishonest” and “ugly” by taking part in the reality show while dating Xuan, whom Apple Daily Taiwan reported is a Shanghainese air stewardess.

One netizen criticised his lack of consideration towards Xuan and that his appearance on the show was “cruel to everyone involved”. Another said Xuan was “pitiful”.

Others felt angry for Wu. One netizen said: “Using other girls. Playing with their feelings and pretending to be affectionate, dedicated and innocent. My god, it turns out that the entertainment industry is really dirty.”

This article was first published in The Straits Times.