Hongkong actor Philip Ng, 44, was a guest on talk show Bong Bong, Amigo!, where he opened up about his clandestine eight-year-long relationship with Linda Chung, 37.

Philip, who got his start in showbiz as a stuntman, took years to make his name as an actor, only hitting the big time in 2016 TVB drama A Fist Within Four Walls.

Before that, he was only known for being the rumoured boyfriend of Linda.

According to reports, he and the actress fell in love after acting opposite each other in movie Love is All Around in 2007. They would go on to date for eight years, only breaking up in 2015.

However, the couple never went public with their relationship, and when asked by the media, would only say they're friends.

At that time, Linda was at the peak of her popularity, while Philip, was oft ridiculed by the media for being a “calefare”. In short, no one felt he was good enough for her.

Well, at least they were happy?

We guess enough time has passed since their breakup for Philip to finally talk about how he felt about being Linda’s secret boyfriend.

When asked by host Amigo Choi about how they managed to stay together for eight years despite all that negative talk about their relationship, Philip said, “It was actually okay. We were happy. It was because of her work that’s why I had to stay hidden. I was okay with it.”

There were rumours that Linda broke up with Philip because she didn’t feel secure with him and that it led her to realise that they had different values in life. So was this true?

“She had to keep our relationship a secret because our work and I believe that put a lot of stress on her," said Philip. "I know what was happening… At that time she was very popular and I was a nobody. I understood it but I felt that when you go too far to do something like that, it ended up hurting me.”

Is that bitterness we sense from Philip?

Philip is currently single, though there were rumours that he’s dating his The Righteous Fists co-star Natalie Tong. P/S: All talk that they're a couple has been shut down by the actress.

On the other hand, Linda is happily married to chiropractor Jeremy Leung, with whom she has two kids. She and her family now live in Vancouver.

Photos: Weibo