Singapore — The messy public unravelling of Taiwanese-American Mandopop star Wang Leehom’s marriage to Lee Jinglei has taken a potentially deadly turn.
Singaporean singer Yumi Bai, whom Lee accused of being Wang’s mistress, is said to be in critical condition in hospital in Taiwan, after overdosing on pills in a supposed suicide bid.
The news seems to have first surfaced on China’s popular social media site Weibo on Wednesday (Dec 22).
Yumi was taken to hospital to have her stomach pumped, according to a netizen who describes herself as a close friend of the singer.
Yumi and her twin, Miko, are based in Taiwan and perform as a duo, By2.
The netizen whose Weibo handle translates as “Being A Child 007” posted four photos that looked as if they had been taken to an emergency room in a hospital.
One of the pictures posted by the netizen on Weibo shows a woman in a wheelchair, who is thought to be Yumi.
In the Weibo post, netizen 做个小孩007 addresses Wang directly, saying, “Yumi took pills to commit suicide and is having her stomach pumped at the hospital now! @Wang Leehom you’re the one who knows best if Yumi was indeed a third party in your mess of a marriage! If anything really happens to her, I absolutely will not forgive you!!”
Yumi’s supposed involvement in the disintegration of Wang and Lee’s marriage is just one part of the many disclosures that have riveted an audience that has widened beyond the singer’s fans in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
Wang and Lee married in 2013, and although they announced on Dec 15 this year that they had filed for divorce, rumours of their break-up had been circulating since June.
Far from quelling speculation, that announcement seems to have prompted more revelations about their eight-year marriage. Last weekend, allegations of adultery, bribery, and marital strife, began circulating online.
On Dec 17, Lee released a multipage letter on her Instagram account detailing Wang’s numerous infidelities during their marriage.
On Dec 19, Yumi addressed the rumours in a Weibo post of her own, stating categorically that she had “never been involved” in Wang and Lee’s marriage.
She said she had met and dated Wang in 2012, the year before he married, and also sent him intimate photos as she had been “willing to do anything for love”. Yumi was only 20 at the time.
When she found out he was getting married, she sent congratulations, even if she was saddened by the news.
“On November 27, 2013, I learned about his marriage to her through the media. I cried, but I convinced myself over and over again that it was reasonable for him to get married and settle down quickly at his age. Even if it’s not me,” Yumi wrote (auto-translated from Chinese).
“After struggling for two days, I finally chose to bless him on the 29th. I really hope he can be happy. He said my blessings are extremely important, thank me.
I thought: It’s great that the person I love can be happy, and I can also be the ‘best ex’. I even thought naively, we broke up peacefully, maybe we can still make contact occasionally and then be ordinary friends.”
By 2015, she said, they had stopped being friends on WeChat.
As for the lovey-dovey photo of herself with Wang that she posted on Instagram in 2015, she clarified that it was taken in May 2013, before Wang married Lee. She had posted the photo to make her boyfriend jealous because they had been in an argument at the time.
If you or anyone you know is struggling with mental health issues, the following helplines are available:
- National Care Hotline: 1800-202-6868 (8 am—12 am)
- Institute of Mental Health’s Mental Health Helpline: 6389-2222 (24 hours)
- Samaritans of Singapore: 1800-221-4444 (24 hours) /1-767 (24 hours)
- Singapore Association for Mental Health: 1800-283-7019
- Silver Ribbon Singapore: 6386-1928
- Tinkle Friend: 1800-274-4788 and www.tinklefriend.sg
- Community Health Assessment Team: 6493-6500/1 and www.chat.mentalhealth.sg /TISG
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