TVB actress Elaine Yiu may have made great strides in her career in recent years, but her showbiz journey hasn’t been all that smooth.

The 41-year-old, who started out as a Mandarin host after winning the TVB8 Presenter Contest in 2002, shared that she had a tough time when she first entered the industry and that she had considered quitting many times.

A fresh-faced Elaine when she first started out as a host

As she lacked formal training, Elaine was often “yelled at” on set and she would get especially nervous when she had to interview big stars.

She recalled there was once she had to interview TVB Ah Jie Liza Wang who was acting in a stage play.

As she was just a rookie then, her colleagues helped her prepare eight questions for the interview. Even though she memorised the questions, when the interview began, Elaine was so nervous that she forgot her lines and had to keep referring to her cue cards.

When Liza saw this, she got really mad and asked her: “Didn’t you do your homework?"

The veteran star then turned to the crew and told them to “teach her”.

Elaine said that after this incident, she learned that conducting interviews require skill. Memorising the script is not enough, and a good host must be flexible and think fast on her feet.



She's come a long way

In 2003, Elaine tried her hand at acting and made her drama debut in Hearts of Fencing, where she portrayed the nerdy Man Man. She later earned praise for her villainous role in 2005’s Revolving Doors of Vengeance.

She was named Best Supporting Actress at the 2015 TVB Anniversary Awards for her role as Imperial Consort Yim in period drama Captain of Destiny.

Photos: Elaine Yiu/Instagram