Vicki Zhao Showed Up In Her Hometown 20 Days After She Was Blacklisted… Or So One Netizen Claimed

Has Vicki Zhao, whose whereabouts have been a complete mystery ever since she was basically Thanos-snapped from Chinese online platforms last month, been hiding out in her hometown all this time?

On Tuesday (Sep 14), about 20 days after the 45-year-old's sudden dramatic blacklist made headlines, a netizen took to Weibo to reveal that Vicki is now back in her birthplace of Wuhu, a city in China’s Anhui province.

She had even taken a group photo with the staff during her visit to a telco store (see below), which was included in the post along with a few other candid shots of her using their services.

Fans were delighted to see an update on the star, writing: “My favourite actress, only she gives me motivation in life”, “Seeing pretty Vicki makes me so happy”, “Everyone in her hometown still likes and supports her”, and “I’ve been waiting for Vicki jie.”

On the other hand, there were sceptics who suspected that the pictures are actually quite old due to their poor quality — um, not everyone has the latest phone, though? — and the fact that nobody aside from Vicki is wearing a mask when there’s a COVID-19 outbreak going on.

If those photos really are recent, this would mark Vicki’s first appearance in public since her scandal broke. She previously resurfaced on Weibo on September 12 when she left a “Happy birthday” comment on a friend’s page.

While an official reason for her ban has yet to be given, one theory is that it may have something to do with Vicki’s close friendship with Alibaba’s billionaire founder Jack Ma.

Before the news of her being in Wuhu came out, there were all kinds of speculations as to where she was laying low.

While some believed she was just chilling in Beijing with her parents, others claimed that she fled to the Bordeaux countryside in France, where she owns a vineyard with her businessman husband Huang Youlong, 44.

Photos: Vicki Zhao’s work studio/Weibo, 吉-Jim/Weibo