Fiona Xie

Fiona Xie Wan Yu (born January 24, 1982) is a Singaporean actress, model and television host.

Spotted by a talent scout at the age of fifteen while was studying in St. Hilda’s Secondary School, she modeled for numerous print and television commercials in Singapore and Hong Kong before joining MediaCorp Studios.

Fiona made her acting debut in 2000 as a nurse in the Singaporean hit drama series, Growing Up. Her convincing acting landed her one of her most recognizable roles in the 2001 sitcom, My Genie. In 2001, she won “Best Newcomer Award” at Mediacorp’s Star Awards after just over a year in show business.

Fiona gained popularity for her talents as a bilingual variety show hostess, in particular of the long-running series, City Beat. She has since hosted other variety shows, such as the photography-based “Say Cheez” for Channel 8, introducing celebrities’ favourite hawker foods in “Coffee Talk and Hawker Woks” for Channel 5 and the travel show “Weekend Escapade”.

In 2004, Fiona hit the headlines when she had to run with Jeanette Aw, Xiao Qiao and Felicia Chin, in bikinis, along the crowded Orchard Road for the drama series “The Champion”. She later admitted in an interview that she wore another bikini top underneath, to prevent accidental exposure. That scene alone earned Fiona the nickname of “Boing Boing”.

In 2005, Fiona was voted as sexiest woman for the “FHM Top 100 Sexiest Women Singapore” list, even though she had never posed for FHM before. She continued to be ranked among the Top 10 for the FHM lists in the next 3 years.

In December 2006, Fiona was identified as one of the most promising young actresses in the Singapore Entertainment Industry by leading local entertainment magazine I-Weekly and was hence labeled as one of the Mediacorp 7 Princesses alongside Jesseca Liu, Jeanette Aw, Joanne Peh, Rui En, Felicia Chin and Dawn Yeoh.

Fiona appeared in her second film project and first ever international film,the supernatural thriller “Rule #1”, directed by local filmmaker Kelvin Tong. The film starred HK actors Ekin Cheng and Shawn Yue, and debuted in Singapore and Malaysia on 13 March 2008.

Fiona starred in the 2008 MediaCorp Channel 8 Mandarin drama titled “Just in Singapore” in which she played a kind-hearted tomboy who sells chicken wings at bazaars and sang ge-tai during the Lunar Seventh Month.

Fiona Xie was originally slated to be in the Channel 8 2009 year-end blockbuster, Together. She would have been playing the second female lead, the biggest role that she has ever gotten. It was announced on 15 July 2009 that she has pulled out of Together because she has private matters to attend to. Local artiste Eelyn Kok would eventually replace her role in Together.

Malicious rumours ranging from she was pregnant, she was a star-for-hire and she was a kept woman started spreading.

Fiona had expressed discomfort in doing the “Together” role. She could not find her character’s voice though she admitted that she gave it up partly because of her Australian-American boyfriend.

According to the actress, her boyfriend did not like the script as it contained too many kissing scenes, so she turned it down.

“He wanted me to ask for amendments to the script so I have less kissing scenes. I know that is impossible but I don’t want him to be unhappy,” she explained.

Fiona Xie’s current boyfriend is an American-Australian named Luke Fehon, the 26-year-old son of wealthy retired banker Christopher Fehon who was one of the head honchos at Citibank before his retirement.

Her decision to drop everything and base herself Hong Kong meant kissing goodbye to her annual salary of about S$500,000. However, it will afford her greater control over her life and gives her the freedom to choose what projects she wants to do.

“I left to truly experience living,” she added. “To get rid of the cocoon, and to spread my wings!”

According to David Gan, a close friend of Fiona, one of the reason why Fiona quit Mediacorp was  the strict ‘disciplinary code’ affecting local artists.

David said Fiona often felt stifled as an artist and longed for freedom of creativity in her work.

Freedom of speech, job-wise, was also a luxury that she didn’t have, as she was often criticised by her management when she spoke her mind.

Then there’s the question of money. David believes she may have decided to seek greener pastures abroad where artists are generally paid higher salaries.

David pointed out that Fiona deserves more.

‘There are so few local actresses that have the natural X-factor and Fiona is one of them. She looks like a star, she is a star. It’s definitely our loss.’

Since leaving Singapore, the 29-year-old took art, creativity and fashion classes for personal interest in New York, and dipped briefly into the property and commodities markets.

Before that in Hong Kong, she produced for Tomasz Gudzowaty, a black-and-white Polish documentary photographer, where she did everything from logistics to applications for permits.

“The projects I did made me realise there are things I could do besides acting and hosting, and also how much experience I have,” said Xie, adding that being overseas presented a level playing field.

“There was so much I could try and do, and it opened my eyes to a lot of new opportunities and growth,” she said.

At the time, she said she left in a bid to follow her heart and in refusal to conform to societal expectations.

“When I made the choice to leave, I considered everything,” she said. “I have money saved up from working 10 years in showbiz, which allows me to embrace life and travel.”

Being in showbiz, she said, made her “wiser and more grounded” as well.

“It’s an uphill battle and I come out scarred but victorious. If you clip my wing, I’ll grow a new one and fly higher.”

Xie also said she was never scared or insecure about her future while overseas, saying that she believed nothing is impossible in life.

“Whatever that comes, it will work out,” she said. “You just need to change yourself to suit the circumstances and nothing will crush you.

“I do think of the future but I don’t worry about it. Things came along smoothly for me.”

Though her relationship with her boyfriend is going well now, she doesn’t seem to have plans to get married yet.

“I don’t know when I’ll get married,” she said. “When you are happy, you don’t need to set it in stone. I don’t need that validation, and paper doesn’t mean bliss,” she added.

Xie returns to Singapore once in a while to visit her family – the longest of which was three months last year when she cared for her ailing grandmother, including changing her diapers and tubes.

It was a life-altering process, Xie recalled, to nurse her and watch her waste away and eventually die. The experience helped her realise the beauty in life and relationships, and to celebrate her youth.