A woman in China, who spent eight million yuan (US$1 million) on cosmetic surgery to make her look like the actress Fan Bingbing, has been forced to change her life after the star’s reputation collapsed.
The woman even married a man who had surgery so he could resemble Fan’s then boyfriend, Li Chen.
He Chengxi, 31, is from a wealthy family in Shenzhen, southern China, and underwent 37 cosmetic procedures, mainly on her face, between 2008 and 2016, the news outlet Sina.com reported.
The operations cost her a total of eight million yuan.
“I want to be like her,” said He, pointing to a picture of Fan when she was a teenage girl. She said she was not satisfied with her mediocre appearance.
Fan, 44, was among the highest-earning stars and one of the best internationally known artists from China more than a decade ago. She has been celebrated for her “flawless looks”.
At first, He’s parents did not support her, but she insisted and threatened to commit suicide if they stopped her.
She had three double eyelid surgeries and insisted doctors make her look exactly like Fan.
In 2016, largely due to her resemblance to Fan, He shot to fame in China when she took part in a national singing talent contest.
She was dubbed ‘Little Fan Bingbing’ and was offered small roles in film and television dramas.
She dated Yu Xiaoquan, one of the doctors who worked on her.
Yu also had several operations on himself to look like Fan’s boyfriend.
He and Yu were then invited to take part in commercial activities across the mainland as a “copy” of the star couple.
Yu opened his own cosmetic clinic using the slogan “making ordinary people a celebrity”.
The couple married in 2017 and had a son in the same year.
The next year, He revealed on social media that her husband had an affair with a man.
They divorced in 2018 and Yu was granted custody of the child.
The same year, Fan became embroiled in a tax evasion scandal and was ordered to pay about 884 million yuan (US$122 million) in overdue taxes and fines before being banned from acting in the country.
As a result, He was ridiculed by internet users and the acting offers dried up.
In recent years, He has focused on being a fashion blogger and live-streamer. She has 330,000 online followers.
She appeared in a few television dramas as a minor supporting actress after undergoing more surgery to make her look less like Fan.
“I am who I am, ” He said in a video released last year, adding: “One of my life principles is not to please others.”
Her story has stirred huge interest on mainland social media.
“I think she is beautiful, although not like Fan Bingbing now,” one online observer said.
“Her cosmetic work was successful. If I had so much money, I would do it to be more beautiful,” said another.
But a third person said: “When a person tries her best to imitate another individual, she has lost one valuable thing, herself. I hope He Chengxi’s story can remind us that everyone deserves to be respected and appreciated.”
Fan, who still remains blacklisted in China, has developed a career abroad.
Last month, the mainland media was muted when Fan won Taiwan’s Golden Horse Best Actress Award. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
