Wang Leehom divorce saga: 6 things to know about his estranged wife Lee Jinglei

Wang Leehom and Lee Jinglei married in November 2013 but divorced in 2019, according to the singer. Photo: Wang Leehom/Instagram

She is neither a singer nor an actress, but Lee Jinglei has attracted media attention ever since she married singer Wang Leehom back in 2013.

She was 27 and a doctoral student at Columbia University in New York City when she tied the knot with Wang, who is 10 years her senior.

News last Wednesday that Lee, 35, and Wang, 45, had divorced has put the media spotlight on her once more.

Interest in her surged over the weekend after her explosive social media post last Friday, to accuse Wang of failings including infidelities.

Here are six things to know about the previously low-profile mother of three.

1. Lee has a sterling academic background

According to the Taiwan media, Lee did her undergraduate studies at the prestigious Princeton University and went on to get a doctoral degree from the business school of Columbia University, which is also an Ivy League institution. She worked as an analyst at JP Morgan after completing her studies, Taiwan media reported.

2. Lee's mother is a former actress

Lee's mother, Lee Yiu-man, acted as the second female lead in Hong Kong action movie Return To Action (1990). She acted alongside Hong Kong film stars Alex Man and Rosamund Kwan. Lee fell off the entertainment industry's radar afterwards.

3. Lee is half Japanese and is known to friends by her Japanese name

While it is unclear what passport she holds presently, Lee grew up in Taiwan and has a Japanese father. Lee used to go by the Japanese name Michiko Nishimura.

Netizens have speculated that Lee might have adopted a Chinese name at Wang's request. In 2015, this issue made the news in China when Lee's name appeared to be registered as Wang Jinglei when she passed through airport customs.

4. Lee's Instagram followers have surged since her post last Friday (Dec 17)

As of Monday (Dec 20) evening, Lee has some 807,000 followers on Instagram, with her follower count still increasing steadily.

Lee's followers have increased by more than 250,000 since her first post on the divorce. Her rebuttal of Wang's denial of her accusations on Monday morning has garnered over 281,000 likes.

Many netizens have also expressed their sympathy for Lee in the comments sections of her posts. Her post last Friday has attracted over 50,000 comments.

Previously, Lee was seldom active on her Instagram account. Her last post before the saga was on Oct 12, more than four months after an earlier post in June.

5. Wang called her his "Forever Love"

Wang and Lee got hitched in 2013.

Back then, the singer introduced his bride in a Weibo post, describing her as his "Forever Love" and appealing to his fans to look upon her favourably. He highlighted that his parents had expressed their approval of Lee and the upcoming marriage.

He also stated then that he had known Lee for 12 years through their parents, who have been friends for many years.

6. Mother of two girls and a boy

Lee gave birth to their first daughter, Jiali, in 2014.

Jiana, the couple's second daughter, followed in 2016. Jiayao, their son, was born in 2018. Lee describes her children as her "everything", and has never shown their faces on social media. – The Straits Times/Asia News Network