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Kate Pang is backing husband Andie Chen up after his ex-girlfriend, Melissa Faith Yeo, surfaced potentially defamatory claims about him.
Yeo and Chen, both 36 years old, ended things in late 2011.
Photo via Melissa Faith Yeo's Facebook page
Yeo, who used to be a model and actress, is currently working as a real estate agent.
In 2019, she was fined S$5,000 under the Protection from Harassment Act (POHA) for hurling vulgarities at a police officer and an SMRT employee on two separate occasions.
Backstory
On May 31, 2022, Yeo posted an exposé of sorts on TikTok, titled "Spilling the tea on the media industry in Singapore".
She wrote in the post's caption:
"Since I’ve had a lot of 'What happened to you?' questions for the past 10 years and since I spoke about my struggles with fake friends on my Instagram Storie[s], here’s the lowdown."
Back then, Yeo said, she was struggling in her showbiz career due to many reasons, but attributed the main reason to a public breakup.
"My breakup was public. I don't know why, it was so unnecessary."
Although she did not name the other party, online users were quick to deduce that she was referring to Chen.
Yeo claimed that in 2012, Chen alluded to the press that Yeo had cheated on him, as he "needed the clout" and "pity votes" for his Best Actor nomination at Star Awards.
The real estate agent went on to talk about body positivity and being slut-shamed:
"So this guy, he did it knowing that I'm easily misunderstood and villainized. Like, me being me, it's very easy to slut-shame. I'm slut-shamed until this day for the way I look.
I was also very positive. And at the time, I was known to have blogged about my boob job, and a lot of people hated me for that, like, I was wrong for doing that.
I mean, it's my body. I gotta talk about it, right? But, you know, they made it their business. Mediacorp hated me. The theatre community hated me.
But you know, if I was a fat woman doing it, I'll be called brave. I'll be called a feminist. So in 2012, I was slut-shamed for cheating on my boyfriend on top of everything."
The rest of the TikTok detailed how she was uninvited to the gala premiere of a musical, implying that it was due to her reputation.
Follow-up video
In another TikTok one day later (June 1), Yeo spoke about a "toxic ex" from 11 years ago, who apparently told her that she was the least pretty girlfriend he's had.
When she tried to rationalise his comment, it reportedly "opened the floodgates" for him to treat her even worse, Yeo said.
She wrote in the post's caption,
"I remember becoming a jealous person when I’m not usually that sort and I didn’t like that at all. Do you want to become a fraction of yourself then go through the pain of building yourself back up…?"
Kate Pang responds
Pang, who has been married to Chen for about eight years, came to his defence.
In an interview with Shin Min Daily News (SMDN), the 39-year-old actress said that the incident has not affected their relationship.
She revealed, "When my husband first told me about this, he thought it was very strange and somewhat amusing, but I was actually a little unhappy, because such baseless accusations affect my husband's reputation."
Pang also said that she it is unclear what Yeo hopes to achieve with her allegations.
If the matter blows up further, Pang continued, she may consider suing Yeo.
"If one wants to vent, they should look for those around them, and not share it on the Internet. Since the crowd doesn't know us [Pang and Chen], such accusations will cost us greatly."
Pang pointed out that there would one day be consequences for such acts.
However, the actress also thought that Yeo must have felt terrible as she has yet to resolve the incident even after so many years, believing that she was deceived.
She then advised Yeo to let go of the past and live her life.
Andie Chen: Accusations not true
Responding to SMDN, Chen simply said that the accusations by Yeo were not true.
In a December 2011 article by TNP, Chen had said,
"Our split was amicable and I trust her. In fact, I still care for her. [...]
We are still friends and both of us are old enough to talk things out if there are any issues."
In a February 2012 interview with TNP, Chen cited "character differences" for their split.
While Chen did not share the details, he said that they ended on "good terms."
He added to TNP:
"There's sexual temptation in this industry. [...] I'm surrounded by women and if I have an actress girlfriend, she will also be surrounded by good-looking and rich men.
Since I'm looking for stability in a relationship, why would I be with someone who's constantly tempted?"
During the time of their split, a rumour had also surfaced that Chen physically abused Yeo—a rumour that Chen rubbished.
When contacted by TNP, Yeo provided a few quotes in favour of Chen.
"Andie is not like that. He doesn't have a temper either."
"He treated me like a princess and it's very hard to find a boyfriend like that."
"If Andie really abused me, I wouldn't defend him. We are no longer together so there's no reason I should defend him."
Yeo has responded to a TikTok commenter questioning her response then, saying that she intends to address this "soon."
She also clarified in another clip that she did not cheat.
Top image via Kate Pang's Instagram page, Melissa Faith Yeo's TikTok page