TVB has held the Mr. Hong Kong contest 8 times since 2005. Even though the show is treated more like a hunk fest, it did bring fame to its winers and contestants. In the latest episode of myTV Super’s talk show, “Tiger’s Talk”, hosted by Christine Ng and Bob Lam, they invited three former Mr. Hong Kongs, Matthew Ko (高鈞賢), Stefan Wong (黃祥興), and Benjamin Yuen (袁偉豪).
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When talking about whether the Mr. Hong Kong auditions were like Miss Hong Kong, Benjamin Yuen expressed that it was the second round and TVB executive, Virginia Lok (樂易玲), was present. Benjamin Yuen recalled he was only wearing flat swim shorts and held his guitar. He said looking back at it now, it was very funny.
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As for Stefan Wong, he joined the first Mr. Hong Kong contest in 2005 with Matthew Ko. He revealed that he never went through this audition because the French native’s Cantonese wasn’t so good at the time so he misheard the schedule and missed it. He was able to make it up later on, but he revealed, “I went into a small room. Ms. Lok and Wilson Chin (錢國偉) were there. When I introduced myself, once they heard me say I came from France, they said okay. I didn’t wear swim trunks. Maybe they know those who come from France, their size shouldn’t be a problem.”
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While Stefan Wong didn’t place in the Top 3, he was signed with TVB. He immediately had a role in the 2006 series, “Land of Wealth” (滙通天下), fighting for Sonia Kwok with Moses Chan. However, Stefan Wong said his Cantonese was really bad at the time and he had no experience acting, but as the series was set in the Republican era, he was sent to Hengdian to film already.
In 2007, Stefan Wong was arranged to represent TVB to compete in Hunan TV’s version of the hit dancing show, “Strictly Come Dancing” (舞動奇蹟). Even though his chances of winning were low, but he kept learning day and night. This earned the appreciation of a Hunan TV executive. Stefan Wong revealed, “He asked me if I was interested in developing further with him. At the time, I glanced at Ms. Lok. She turned her heard and said, “He is mine.” Stefan Wong claims he didn’t feel it was a pity that he lost out the chance to develop in the mainland and also thanked Ms. Lok for valuing his importance.
When Bob Lam mentioned the 2006 scandal of Stefan’s younger brother, François Wong (黃長發), with Patrick “Shoe King” Tang’s third mistress, Karen Lee (李姿霆), and whether he felt he was dragged down by him, Stefan Wong shed some tears and said, “I wouldn’t be mad because he is still my family after all, but I do feel bad for him all these years. At the time, it was quite a big blow. Even now, there would be times when he would be afraid of the glances he would get from people.”
After winning Mr. Hong Kong in 2006, François Wong was immediately involved in an affair with Karen Lee, who is 16 years his senior. He received a lot of negative press about it and practically ruined his career. Stefan Wong had once analyzed this issue with François Wong mentioning that Karen Lee was 16 years his senior and already had a daughter. Karen Lee and her lover, Patrick Tang, were in a messy lawsuit over money, which was said to be caused by the scandal with François Wong.
Stefan Wong mentioned, “I believe she used him a little. She wanted to fulfill a certain goal, but he was too naive and thought it was real love because there were a lot of reports where he didn’t understand how he appeared. It’s very obvious that someone familiar was able to coordinate with the reporter. My younger brother didn’t know these things at the time.” Stefan Wong revealed the incident impacted him as someone had mistaken him for his brother, so he lost out on part of an endorsement contract and acting roles. He also felt a bit regret as he was the one who lobbied for his brother to join the pageant.
After stepping out from the entertainment industry, the 35 year old François Wong became an accountant. Later on, he worked as a manager at a modeling agency. In 2017, he opened his own modeling agency, Liberté Management. He married his Czech model girlfriend, Zuzana, in Prague, in 2015 after 4 years of dating. In an interview from last year, Francois Wong expressed he would like to participate in on-screen work once again if the opportunity presented itself. He also hopes to become a father soon.
Credit: hk01 (1, 2, Stefan Wong IG