Jacky Cheung to be the subject of new Biography Channel program

God of Songs Jacky Cheung has experienced his fair share of peaks and valleys in his long career as a HK entertainer. In the new program "The Four Heavenly Kings: Jacky Cheung" airing on the Biography Channel next month, Jacky explains in detail the various highs and lows he has experienced in his career. He recounts how, back in the 1980s, due to pressures with a stagnant career, he started drinking heavily, which gave rise to a lot of negative publicity and almost ended his career permanently. In the interview, Jacky candidly admits his one-time struggle with alcoholism: “I had a pretty good grasp on my career – whether it was recording albums or doing concerts, I was able to handle it fine – but only the drinking part I had no control over. I hate that type of feeling!” Fortunately, with the support of good friends such as record producer Michael Au as well as then girlfriend May Lo, Jacky was able to overcome his drinking problem and restart his career, ultimately achieving the tremendous success he has today.

With regard to rumors that surfaced back in 1993 of Jacky taking up his older brother’s huge gambling debts, Jacky admits that gambling runs in the family: “My dad likes to gamble, so both my brother and I grew up with the same interests – in fact, in my youth, I was an even bigger gambler than my brother! However, later on, I realized that it’s impossible to make a living off gambling and it wasn’t reliable for me, so I stopped.”

Discussing Jacky’s successful 1997 on-stage musical "Snow Wolf Lake" -- which he starred in and artistically directed – co-star Kit Chan reveals a few behind-the-scenes ‘secrets’ and funny moments that had occurred during the production, including Jacky’s “smelly” performances. Laughing, Kit playfully expressed that she felt sorry for the production’s female star, pop Queen Sandy Lam: “During a few performances, Jacky started to sweat heavily due to the various dance segments, and by the middle segment of the show, we started to smell ‘odors’ coming from his body – by the end of the show, some of us didn’t even want to go near him! And to think, during the very last scene, poor Sandy had to lie there, embraced by Jacky, with her head very close to his underarm….I ‘heard’ that it was not a very pleasant experience!”

Source: Oriental Daily, Ming Pao
Translation: llwy12 @ AsianFanatics