How well do you know the outspoken Taiwanese host Dee Hsu?

Together with her older sister Barbie Hsu, Dee Hsu was in a pop girl group duo called All Sisters of Shu, or ASOS. It was originally named Sisters of Shu but had to change the name due to copyright issues.

Consequently, Barbie Hsu is referred to as Big S and Dee Hsu as Little S.

Mention Dee Hsu and most of us would know her as a host and comedian. That's how established she has become in the Taiwanese entertainment industry. Her most known credit is as the co-host of Kangxi opposite Kevin Tsai. The variety show ran for 12 years before coming to an end in 2016. The pair also won Best Host in a Variety Show at the 2005 Golden Bell Awards too.

Other notable works of Dee Hsu include Guess (1998-2006), 100% Entertainment (1998-2996) and Dee Girls Talk (2022-now).

Those who followed Taiwanese celebrity news in the late 1990s to early 2000s would know that Dee Hsu was previously with fellow host Micky Huang. After the two had broken up, Dee Hsu went on to marry businessman Mike Hsu. Together, the pair has three daughters together — Elly, Lily and Alice.

However, all is not rosy on the marital front. Dee Hsu had to come out in public to defend her husband after multiple rumours emerged of Mike Hsu possibly cheating. He was caught on camera drinking with other women at a nightclub in one instance and behaving intimately with them in another.

There were also rumours that started in 2010 that Dee Hsu has been a victim of domestic abuse. The reports claimed that the pair fought often due to her penchant for going clubbing.

As a celebrity who also puts her family in the public eye, Dee Hsu now has to deal with criticisms lodged against her family. One particular instance was when she shared a photo of her and her two daughters mid-meal at the dining table. That photo later caught the ire of Hedy Lee, the eldest daughter of famed writer and political critic Li Ao, who criticised Dee Hsu for bad table manners and allowing her children to sit with their feet up on the chairs, among many other aggravations. The two seemingly have bad blood since Li Ao sued Dee Hsu for making a bad joke at her expense on the now-cancelled talk show Mr Con and Ms Csi years prior.

At home, Dee Hsu had to contend with her mother-in-law after the latter kept badgering her to give birth to a son. With Mike Hsu's support though, Dee Hsu was eventually able to ignore the pressure lobbied against her. "I no longer think about [having a son]. Having a child is a blessing and my daughters are the biggest and best present that heaven has given to me"

In an April 2022 episode of her talk show Dee Girls Talk, Dee Hsu revealed that she and Barbie Hsu were sexually harassed. She recounted that the incident happened when they were both teenagers and the perpetrator was a veteran variety show host who took advantage of their inexperience. He would get really handsy with the pair, which made them really uncomfortable. After that, their mother accompanied them on their shoots to watch out for their safety.

The geopolitical tension between China and Taiwan still looms over and has implicated Dee Hsu. During the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, she showed her support for Taiwanese athletes on her Instagram and called them "our national athletes". And as a result, Chinese netizens went to her comments to attack her for "making use of the Olympics to show her support for Taiwan’s independence."

Dee Hsu later tried to clear the air by posting on her Weibo that she is "not pro-Taiwan independence." Unfortunately, not only did this not help the Chinese netizens, Taiwanese netizens also called her out as being "two-faced" and "money-faced celebrity".

And as a result of a flip-flopping, Dee Hsu paid a price when she lost three endorsements in China with brands Pinkoi, JD and Clear. Her daughter Elly, who was the face of the fashion brand Jorya, also lost the endorsement. She was reported to lose around S$1.55 million consequently.

A year prior, the same thing happened to Dee Hsu after she criticised the Taiwanese government's decision to ban the export of face masks. The negative press surrounding the situation reportedly cost her a deal worth around S$142k.

In case you haven't realised yet, Dee Hsu is outspoken and isn't afraid to share her thoughts. In 2021 and 2022, she spoke out against the age-shaming of women. The first was a response towards the ageist reactions towards Sarah Jessica Parker and her fellow And Just Like That co-stars for having "too many wrinkles." She went on to criticise how women are still "held hostage" by their age and for putting on weight.

The second was towards netizens who criticised Korean actress Son Ye-jin for looking old after she had posted "unretouched pics [that] show the severity of ageing" celebrating her birthday. "Netizens are complaining again, saying that Son Ye-jin is old and whatnot. She's clearly beautiful! What do you expect her to do? If she touches up her pics, you will slam her for being fake. Don’t edit the photos, you say she looks old! How handsome or beautiful are you?"

Dee Hsu has also spoken out against the societal pressure placed upon women to be married. In her podcast, she began by stating that "all women should get rid of the mindset that they’re living in a tragedy. Being able to think for yourself, being financially independent and able to put your thoughts into action are some of the most important things to you."

"Your life isn’t just about starting a family and looking after your kids. What’s more important is if you’re happy doing it.

Don’t get brainwashed by your elders. [When they say] ‘Why aren’t you married at your age?’, it should be ignored. How many women have heard this line and decided to settle for someone that they think is half decent?

Marriage isn’t a joke, and neither is divorce. It’s better to be on your own than to be with someone you get tired of in two years. Enjoying life as a swinging single is better than being unhappily married. Getting a divorce after having kids is even messier. Don't get into that."