See us in bikinis and trunks? Fat chance

Both of them chickened out from a bold bet they made with the Hong Kong media.

And as The New Paper found out over the weekend, there is zero chance they will fulfil it.

Hong Kong television stars Bosco Wong, 32, and Niki Chow, 34, were in town to promote their new hit thriller series A Change Of Heart.

The pair had reportedly promised Hong Kong reporters in July that they would don swimming trunks and bikinis in public if the 30-parter achieved an average Nielsen rating of more than 30 points.

Each point represents 64,200 viewers. A rating of 30 means an audience of more than 1.9 million people.

When the show aired in Hong Kong that same month, it lived up to its hype and even peaked at 32 points during the final three episodes.

But Wong and Chow went back on their word.

At a recent promotional event at TVB City in Tseung Kwan O New Town, they brought along sexy swimwear, but merely posed with it. Wong elicited laughs by draping a red bikini top over his chest.

On Saturday, Wong told The New Paper with a grin: "Actually, I'm still fine with fulfilling the bet proper, but like I said before, it has to be a group effort by the leading cast members. I wouldn't do it if it's just myself.

"The main reason we couldn't do it was that Niki and (fellow actor) Michael Miu were not free over the last couple of months. Niki had filming obligations in China and Michael was overseas on holiday.

"Anyway, you should check with Niki. She is the one who conveniently forgot her promise."

When we conveyed Wong's words to Chow in a separate interview, she pretended to stare daggers at him from across the room.

"All right, I did casually mention something about wearing a two-piece swimsuit if ratings were good, but it was all for fun, definitely not to be treated seriously," she explained.

"How do we know if audiences really want to see us in swimming outfits? I think if I were a character in a drama, it's okay, but it's so odd to wear it out in the open.

"Actually, let me tell you, this is Bosco's idea alone as he has built up muscle lately and is dying to show off his amazing figure."

A Change Of Heart weaves a tale about a ruthless businessman Power Fong (Miu) who mends his ways after a heart transplant.

His new heart is from doctor Yiu Yat San (Wong), who died in an apparent accident, leaving his girlfriend Yuen Siu Kat (Chow) devastated.

Wong pulls double duty by playing brothers - he returns as Yiu's twin Hugo and romances Yuen.

The series premieres on VV Drama (StarHub Ch 855) on Sept 9 at 9pm.

Wong and Chow are in the running for several awards at the upcoming StarHub TVB Awards 2013, including My Favourite TVB On Screen Couple for their pairing in A Change Of Heart.

They might look compatible as a couple, but their on-screen attraction didn't translate off-screen.

"The real Niki is so different from Siu Kat. Siu Kat is super cool and independent in a relationship, whereas Niki gives me the feeling she could be the sticky, flirtatious girlfriend type," said Wong.

He and actress Myolie Wu were dubbed "TVB's Golden Couple" till July last year, when they broke up after seven years.

Chow is also single. Her past rumoured boyfriend is Kevin Cheng, her co-star in Under The Canopy Of Love (2006).

What type of partner does Wong prefer?

After a slight pause, he said: "I don't like my girlfriends to be too sticky."

As for Chow, filming a underwater kissing scene with Wong left her literally cold.

"It's not romantic at all because first, the water was extremely cold, and second, I couldn't swim," she said.

"I remember heaving a sigh of relief when Bosco told me he had a lifeguard certificate."


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