What’s Gillian Chung’s Doctor Husband Doing On The Poster Of A Gigolo Club In Taipei?

​Companies get into trouble all the time for using unauthorised images of celebrities to promote their products, and now, it looks like that unethical practice has extended to include famous spouses as well.

Last year, Hongkong singer-actress Gillian Chung’s doctor husband, Michael Lai, opened his own aesthetic clinic in Taipei, and business is said to be booming. According to Taiwanese media reports, Michael — who is nicknamed the “Sunny Wang of the medical world” — is able to earn as much as NT$3mil (about S$139,000) a month, and is very popular with female customers.

Well, it looks like someone decided to take advantage of Michael’s good looks and popularity with the ladies, because he was recently spotted on a poster fronting a, um, male escort club on Changchun Road, Taipei.

In an interview with Taiwanese media, Michael clarified that the image was used without his permission, and even threw in a little self-deprecating joke to drive the point home: “The club is called ‘183’, but I’m only 173cm tall, so I definitely don’t make the cut!”

The 30-year-old added that the photo was taken during a shoot for his friend’s suit brand four years ago. “I’m much older now, and I just spent a fortune launching my business, so how could I afford to open my own gigolo club?” he laughed.

On a more serious note, Michael revealed that a friend had actually sent him a picture of the poster a while ago, and he had asked someone to get the club to remove his picture. But the club has ignored his request and so now Michael is planning to take legal action against them.

​Michael also took the opportunity to clarify the rumours about his impressive salary. “Because of that, I’m now known as ‘3 million’ among my friends!” he chuckled. “I definitely don’t earn that much a month. In the past, I could make a little extra income travelling to China for variety shows, but now a lot of aesthetics clinics in China are closed because of the COVID-19 outbreak, so we make about 50 per cent less now.”

Still, the couple isn’t exactly pinching pennies. Gillian and Michael are currently living in a NT$60mil (S$2.8mil) home, and Michael admitted that they are on the lookout for a bigger place for when they start a family.

His requirements? Something that’s around 330 square metres in size, and in the NT$70mil to NT$80mil (around S$3.2mil to S$3.7mil) price range.

That clinic must really be doing well.