Former TVB actress Yoyo Mung has been married to Hongkong star Ekin Cheng for more than six years but they’ve actually been a couple for 12. Compared to their pals, Ekin and Yoyo have also led a relatively scandal-free lives,

A few months back, Yoyo, 46, gave an interview to Hongkong’s Next Magazine where she opened up about her childhood and her relationship with Ekin, 52.

According to Yoyo, her parents divorced when her mum was still pregnant with her and she was raised by her grandmother. As she grew older, she moved to live with her older brother and her mum, who was very strict with her and would slap and hit her frequently. Her mum’s constant physical abuse is why Yoyo says her childhood was the worst period of her life.

Her mum would later remarry and would go on to have a daughter with her new husband. Yoyo got along very well with her half-sister but sadly, her mum’s second marriage was a failure too. Her half-sister was then taken away by her father to live with his new wife, which was when tragedy struck. Yoyo said that her half-sister was abused by her stepmum and it got so bad that one day, the girl jumped to her death while dressed in an all-red outfit.

Her traumatic childhood experiences scarred Yoyo and she grew up fearing marriage. They also left her with no desire to be a mother. Yoyo said that it’s why she used to tell people that she didn’t want a family of her own and that she believed that women should be independent and not depend on men. That was her motto until she met Ekin Cheng.

Yoyo said she started to change her view on marriage because she saw how filial Ekin is and how caring he is to his family. “I knew very early on that he was someone that I could rely on. He’s really very stable,” she said.

Even though he may behave like a child at times, Yoyo said that Ekin is very family-oriented. Before he and Yoyo got married, her mum was diagnosed with cancer and Ekin would take her to the hospital every day for treatment. In recent years, Yoyo’s dad’s health has also started to fail and so Ekin bought a piece of land in Yuen Long for HK$9.78mil (S$1.7mil) so he could build a house there for Yoyo’s dad to retire in.

When the couple were still dating, many people wondered when they would get married. At that time, both Yoyo and Ekin appeared not too keen on the idea so it surprised everyone when they announced they were finally getting hitched after six years. And there’s a reason for that. According to Yoyo, Ekin decided to marry after her mum and grandmother passed away. “Because he knew I didn’t have many relatives left, he felt that that we should get married quicly so he could take care of me like how a family member would,” Yoyo said.