Donnie Yen, 58, did not know he was 18 years older than his wife when he courted her

Hong Kong — It has been reported that Hong Kong martial art hero Donnie Yen, 58 and his wife, former beauty queen Cissy Wang, 40 just celebrated their 18th anniversary.

Yen and Wang are not just known for their loving relationship but also their whirlwind romance. Before getting married in Aug 2003, they had only dated for three months. The couple shares two children, Jasmine, 17 and James, 13.

Yen was previously married to advertising executive Leung Zing Ci with whom he has a son, Jeff, 25.

Speaking in an interview on a Chinese talk show A Date With Luyu, the actor revealed that he did not know how old Wang was when he was courting her.

“Because I was divorced before, I felt insecure about marriage. But soon after meeting my wife, I had this strong feeling that I had to be with her. But at that time, I didn’t know she was so young,” he said.

“And I didn’t know he was so old!” Wang chimed in.

After dating for two weeks, Yen proposed and Wang said yes. As Wang is a traditional person, not to mention, only 22 then, Yen had to fly to Toronto to ask her parents for her hand in marriage. Wang recalled that Yen had to get past her grandmother and aunt first, and they approved him at first sight. It was followed by her parents, according to 8days.sg.

“I saw his hands shaking. I was so nervous!” she said.

During the interview, Yen also shared about his showbiz journey and financial struggles.

At a very young age, Yen learned martial arts from his mother, grandmaster Mark Bow-sim. His family moved to Boston when he was 10 where his mother founded the Chinese Wushu Research Institute.

Yen then returned to Hong Kong and he joined TVB in the mid-80s. He enrolled in the artiste training class where he became classmates with actor Gordon Lam. He did not graduate after three years.

Yen was only getting HK$3,000 (SGD518) a month and when he did not have enough money to buy food, he would go hungry and have his meal on set as it was free. Only when he was left with no choice, would Yen borrow money from his father.

When asked why he put himself through all that, Yen said: “Since you have chosen to do one thing, you must do it well.” /TISG