A bikini found in Hong Kong actor Ronald
Cheng's room has resulted in his girlfriend Charlene
Choi splitting up with him.
The couple, who have been together for six years, officially
announced their separation last week.
The announcement came barely 24 hours after the media speculated
that they had secretly registered their marriage in 2006.
When asked about the rumour, Choi - who was in Beijing for the
premiere of her latest movie Beauty On Duty - suddenly
choked back her tears and said they had broken up.
Choi, 28, said she chose to reveal the state of her relationship
with Cheng to end the speculation.
In Chengdu on the same day, 38-year-old Cheng was promoting
his new comedy Just Another Pandora’s Box.
He responded to Charlene's announcement by saying: "Yes, we
broke up some time ago."
Choi denied that the break-up had anything to do with a third
party or pressure to marry.
Oriental Sunday magazine, however, reported that the
cause of the split was a bikini that Choi found in the boyfriend's
room.
She cried and complained about it to her friends. Eventually,
Choi lost her trust in Cheng and decided to split with him six
months ago.
Hong Kong media reported that Cheng was "very close" with
several beauties who appeared in the popular variety show
Beautiful Cooking co-hosted by him.
There was also speculation that he dated them and also
went on holidays to Macau with them.
Choi, however, chose to "close one eye" about the rumours until
she found the "evidence".
Choi is a member of popular Cantopop group Twins. The group
split after another member Gillian Chung took a break following her
involvment in Edison Chen's sex scandal, but they have regrouped
recently.
She and Cheng started dating in 2004 after starring as lovers in
the film Hidden Heroes.