'Bling Empire's Christine: 'People think I married well; I don't have to work'

She founded Beverly Hills Plastic Surgery and hired her husband as her first employee. Photo: Christine Chiu/Instagram

Reality series Bling Empire can come across as superficial, what with its stars constantly prying into each other's juicy personal lives all the while decked out in the most expensive designer duds.

But one of its cast members Christine Chiu – who's married to Dr Gabriel Chiu, a plastic surgeon and direct descendant of the Song Dynasty – says there's a lot more to them that the cameras didn't capture.

"The greatest misconception is that we just roll around in money and laugh and drink champagne and caviar all day. I have to admit I'm a big fan of champagne and caviar but you know, everything in moderation," she tells O magazine.

"We didn't get to touch on the charitable, philanthropy part of our life in Bling Empire, which is a huge part: (My husband and I) invest 50% of every net dollar that comes into Beverly Hills Plastic Surgery back into our community."

The haute couture collector also addressed the misconception that she married into wealth and doesn't need to work hard.

"People think I sit around the house and I'm so lucky I'm married to a plastic surgeon, and I don't have to do much. In fact, Beverly Hills Plastic Surgery was something that I founded. Dr Chiu was my very first employee. We've been partners ever since."

Christine believes the significance of Bling Empire goes beyond a show about the lifestyle of the affluent – it is about seeing more Asian-American representation in the media.

"There was a growing interest in diversity on the big and small screens. We thought this posed an incredible opportunity to be a part of this movement."

Bling Empire is available on Netflix.