Former TVB star Marco Ngai drops 30kg, shifts career to live streaming

Then and now. Photos: Marco Ngai/Douyin

It looks like Hong Kong actor Marco Ngai has lifted himself up from the depression that was weighing him down.

The former TVB star has launched a successful comeback in showbiz, not as an actor but a live streamer in China.

According to a Singaporean entertainment portal, Ngai sells liquor online for a company in China and is quite good at what he does. It was reported that he once raked in more than RM6.4mil in a single session.

When he first started this gig in April, the 55-year-old was rotund and netizens were critical of his looks. It was said that he weighed 118kg at one point.

Netizens suggested that he should lose weight to which Ngai responded that he had actually lost 15kg and would like to lose another 20kg.

True to his words, the actor did shed the additional pounds in the following months. Apparently, he lost 30kg in total. Ngai debuted a trimmer physique recently, reminiscent of how he looked back in his days with TVB, much to the delight of his fans.

The past few years have been hard on Ngai. In 2021, he shared in a radio interview that his personal life as well as career set backs have caused him to fall into depression.

“I thought about suicide as it felt so sad. My daughter saved me because I remembered that she can’t be without a father, so I had to put my foot down,” he said in the interview.

Ngai had to step up as a father after ending his 12-year marriage to Zhang Lihua. It was rumoured that the divorce was due to Zhang, who is 20 years younger than Ngai, who was caught cheating.

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Those suffering from problems can reach out to: Mental Health Psychosocial Support Service (03-2935 9935 or 014-322 3392); Talian Kasih (15999 or WhatsApp [phone]); Jakim’s Family, Social and Community care centre (WhatsApp [phone]); and Befrienders Kuala Lumpur (03-7627 2929 or www.befrienders.org.my/centre-in-malaysia for a full list of numbers and operating hours).