Ron and Charmaine Awkward in Each Other's Presence

[The Sun & Ta Kung Pao 27/01/07]

The Kowloon City Plaza Grand Opening Ceremony took place yesterday afternoon and guests at the event included Roger Kwok, Bernice Liu, Ron Ng and Charmaine Sheh. With the recent rumours linking Ron and Charmaine, they were naturally the focus of media attention and maybe because of this, they were paired into separate teams for the games, with Charmaine paired with Roger and Ron joining Bernice. Despite this, they still made eye contact with each other across the stage.

After the event, Ron and Charmaine were pulled together by the press to pose together for a photograph and although they agreed to this, there was still an air of awkwardness between them as they nodded to each other respectfully and then immediately went their separate ways again afterwards. When Ron was asked why they stood apart, he said this was arranged by the organisers. Pushed further about why they immediately sprang away from each other, Ron said: "My manager called me over for an interview." Has he been reprimanded by the company for having so much gossip lately? He says he has not, because it is all untrue and he does not wish to respond any more.

Charmaine indicates that she does not feel awkward about working with Ron and they did chat backstage. Is she frightened by all this gossip? She says: "I am more frightened by the tight work schedules I have coming up." Asked about the reports that Benny Chan has become rather lost after being dumped by her, she says she will not read these reports because she knows what is happening in her life and that she and Benny are still good friends. She says that she was once affected by reports like this when she first entered showbiz, but after ten years, she has learned not to be upset any more.

Bernice wore a red dress and black furry boots to the event and during the handprint ceremony, she nearly revealed herself because she was pressing too hard. She laughs that she has made all the precautions, wearing something underneath, so there was no chance of her exposing herself. She also enjoyed a good chat with the Caucasian company president at the event and she smiled that he speaks Cantonese very well, so she is even more of a Westerner than he is.

When Roger was filming earlier for "Curious Detective", he often appeared at this shopping mall and asked how his fee was for this event, he smiled: "It pays for my lucky packets. Enough to cover six figures." Roger laughs that he has to give double because this is his first year handing them out after his marriage. After he finishes filming, he will have a few days vacation over the New Year before returning to work on the 3rd day of the new year. He hopes to take some time out to go away, maybe a little further afield on a cruise or to the Caribbean with his wife Cindy Au, but he has no time just yet.

News translation credit to Em.

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Sehseh: Poor Ron and Charmaine. I don't blame them for being a little embarassed, since the media is harping on their rumor (which is baseless).