PUBLISHED ONJanuary 29, 2021 7:47 AMByBryan LimIn the world of high fashion and the uber rich, rivalries are bound to happen as people compare their haute couture and jewellery collection to see whose wardrobe (of fashion labels) and stones are bigger.
On Netflix's new hit reality show Bling Empire, the love-hate relationship between frenemies socialite Christine Chiu and heiress Anna Shay has captivated and divided audiences who have openly declared their allegiance to either side on social media — as if anyone has asked them.
Throughout the show, Christine's habit of "name dropping" (something which irked Anna and sowed the seeds for their rivalry) to show off her connections also revealed some interesting tidbits about her life, such as the fact that she's married to a direct descendant of a Song dynasty emperor.
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But who exactly is Christine underneath all the glitz and glamour and fancy clothes? And has she resolved her feud with Anna?
Read on to find out, along with other lesser-known facts about this crazy rich housewife (hint hint).
Describing the tricks that Anna played on her as something "meant for entertainment", Christine shrugged off the cat-and-mouse game that transpired on the show and said that if the tricks make Anna happy, then she's fine with it. On one occasion, Anna invited Christine to her dinner party but gave her a later time, resulting in the latter arriving when the guests were about to leave.
She said to People: "After the party, Anna, Florent and I stuck around and we chatted about different things. She's a great person, she has a great heart. I do respect her on so many levels. We're all good."
"It's been two years since filming and I like to think that we're in a great place. We've had dinner. Even that night where it seemed very tense at my Bel-Air home, she actually made her favourite cocktail for me and we laughed about a couple of things and she gave me some great mom advice," Christine added.
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Perhaps it's all the added publicity and attention the show has garnered, but Christine is beefing up security by installing 30 more security cameras in her house. She told OprahMag that she and her husband have also hired ex-SWAT trainers to train them, and she can shoot on both hands while running.
"I can stop, drop, roll, and run with guns in both hands now... We role-play different, uh, points of intrusion. We have guns strategically placed everywhere in the house and we know what to do and how to react in different circumstances," she shared.
Additionally, her household staff have gone through a fire drill and Christine even timed them. She said: "I know it sounds terrible, but I dropped emergency ladders out of different windows and I timed them going down, um, carrying a big teddy bear and luggage. It's one thing to be able to do it — but they have to do it quickly if there's a fire."
ALSO READ: Bling Empire's Kane Lim reveals what he misses about Singapore and his take on being kiasu
During an intimate chat with co-stars Jamie Xie and Kane Lim, Christine revealed that she has been estranged from her father for 10 years. Both father and daughter have reconnected, but it took an unfortunate loss for their paths to cross, she told People.
"Unfortunately, my mother passed away recently and it was in her passing that I reconnected with my father. I was able to FaceTime with my dad recently and we introduced him to Baby G (her son) for the first time."
However, she hasn't spoken to her dad since the show was released and said that they're "barely tip-toeing onto our road to recovery".
Before Bling Empire, there was The Real Housewives franchise that follows crazy rich housewives in various regions of the US, and Christine filmed some scenes for the Beverly Hills series back in 2014, according to Daily Mail. However, she didn't join the series in the end and it's unclear why.
Nevertheless, she's now on Bling Empire and it seems to be a much better fit for her. Let's hope this rising reality star (and her diamonds) shine ever brighter in the next season.
Speaking of a second season, it seems pretty much certain that the show will be renewed although no formal announcement has been made yet. And Christine will be coming in hot with a bigger truth bomb to drop if the show comes back.
"If you thought I dropped a big bomb with our fertility struggle in season one, there's something even bigger. If we were to have a season two and we were to continue down this line of authenticity and sharing our personal stories and struggles, I will be compelled to open up even further, and that story is much deeper and a much more difficult one to share," she told People.
bryanlim@asiaone.com