Gigi Lai Announces Retirement
20 October 2008
TVB's entertainment magazine programme Scoop <東張西望> held a special premiere event for the airing of the first episode of grand production The Gem Of Life <珠光寶氣> this evening. Among the cast members taking part were Gigi Lai (黎姿), Lee Si Kei (李司棋), Ada Choi (蔡少芬), Moses Chan (陳豪), Maggie Siu (邵美琪) and Bowie Lam (林保怡).
During the show, Gigi made a surprise announcement that she will be retiring from showbiz so that she can concentrate on looking after her brother's business and caring for her family. She said that Gem will be her last performance in a series and her interview on Scoop will be her last formal appearance.
Asked if she was making this decision because she plans to get married, Gigi said that this was not the case. As for whether or not she still has any contractual obligations with TVB, she pointed out that she will always be a TVB person, regardless of any contracts between them.
When Gigi was asked how long it had taken her to reach this decision, she replied that she had thought about it when she first started filming for Gem and then some other incidents that she did not want to talk about also swayed her decision. She said that she felt an obligation to fulfil her duties to help promote this series, so she has waited until this work was completed before she made this announcement.
After giving almost three decades of her life to the entertainment industry, Gigi said that she would like to take some time out to pursue her own interests, such as studying and spending time with her family. She explained that she could not balance running the business with her acting work, so she had to give up one of her jobs.
Gigi thanked the support given to her by her co-stars, especially Ada, Maggie and Si Kei, during the difficult times when her brother Stephen (黎嬰) suffered horrific injuries in a road accident. When she spoke about her brother, Gigi became quite emotional and began to cry, making Ada quite teary too.
Ada said that Gigi will be missed by everyone, but the most important thing was for her to be happy. She added that she felt privileged to have filmed several series with her and she sees Gigi as a sister
Other co-stars also supported Gigi's decision and Moses said that he admired her for her courage and strength through such difficult times and he wished her every happiness.
Si Kei was quite shocked when she saw Gigi crying because she did not know what was happening. She praised Gigi for being a very remarkable woman, who is extremely dedicated to her family, so she will always look out for Gigi.
The 80-episode Gem premiered today in Hong Kong and will run until February 2009.
Credits : Emma Lam @ batgwa.com
Photo : batgwa.com / Tungstar
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