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Gigi Leung Wing-kei (Chinese: 梁詠琪, born 25 March 1976) is a Hong Kong singer and actress.[3]
She was born at Tsan Yuk Hospital in Sai Ying Pun on 25 March 1976[4][unreliable source?][5][6] and was given the name Leung Pik-chi (梁碧姿) for superstitious reasons; as a child, Leung suffered from frequent asthma attacks and it was believed a change of name would bring better health. At 176 cm, Leung earned the nickname of 'Tall Girl'. She has a twin brother named Keith Leung Wing-chun (Leung Wing-chun, 梁詠俊).
Gigi Leung attended Maryknoll Convent School. Later, she went to the Hong Kong Polytechnic University where she gained a diploma from the School of Design.[7] It was during her study at university that she accepted a modelling assignment from the watch company City Chain and caught the attention of film director Lee Chi-ngai who cast her in her very first movie, Doctor Mack (1995). The success of the movie brought her a further role in Full Throttle (1995), shot while she was finishing her diploma. For her supporting role in the film, Leung received a nomination for Best Newcomer at the 1995 Hong Kong Film Awards.[7]
Her singing career began the following year with the debut album Love Myself (1996). Since then, she has sung both Cantonese and Mandarin songs. She is recognised not only as a Cantopop/Mandopop singer, but as a songwriter and lyricist as well, having written songs for both herself and other local singers. She has a contract with Warner Music Hong Kong, with more than a dozen albums to her name. She has performed in several full-scale live concerts including one entitled Funny Face in 2003.
In 2008 25 March she signed a contract with Big Artiste Management, a subsidiary of Mei Ah Entertainment.
Since 1995, Leung has starred in over 20 movies, most of which are dramas and comedies. She has worked opposite acting veterans such as Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Andy Lau, Daniel Chan, Stephen Chow and Jet Li. In 2003, she starred with Takeshi Kaneshiro in Warner Bros.' first-ever Chinese-language film Turn Left, Turn Right. Notably, at the Hong Kong Film Awards, Leung was nominated for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress for roles in Tempting Heart (1999) and A War Named Desire (2000) respectively.
Primarily an actress on the silver screen, Leung briefly appeared in the TVB serial The Last Breakthrough (2004). She has also performed in a number of stage musicals including The Great Entertainer (2004). Other works include the Cantonese narration for the Japanese film Quill (2004).
Leung is also active in charity work. Apart from being the ambassador for different charities, she has helped to build 7 schools in Mainland China to help poor children.[8] She is also the youngest-ever local (at age 27) to receive the "Ten Most Outstanding Youth Award" in Hong Kong .
Leung is popular not just in Hong Kong, but also in Mainland China, Taiwan and Southeast Asia.
Outside of the entertainment business, Leung has acted as the Hong Kong spokesperson for Japanese cosmetics company FANCL since 1999. She is also an ambassador to both United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)[8] and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Hong Kong. Other charity ambassador titles include Honourably Ambassador of Yan Chai Hospital, Special Ambassador to the Yan Aiu Hospital, Ambassador of Breast Cancer Fund and Ambassador of Society for Abandoned Animals (SAA). She also held numerous other special titles to numerous organisations. She joined her friends, Charlie Yeung, Valen Hsu and Angelica Lee to form the "Hope Foundation," a non-profit organisation to help children in need.
Gigi Leung had a seven-year relationship with singer-actor Ekin Cheng. They broke up in 2006.[9]
In July 2009, she was reported to be in a relationship with a furniture designer from France, known only as Sly.[10] Neither Gigi nor Sly admitted their relationship, but it was reported that the couple separated in early 2010.
On 3 October 2011, Leung married her Spanish boyfriend Sergio Crespo Gutes (former basketball player and Nestle executive) on the island of Ibiza.[11] On 28 February 2015, Leung gave birth to her first child, a daughter,[12] Sofia Crespo Leung (祈淑菲).[1][2]
On 30 March 2010, Gigi Leung posted on her Weibo about the plight of Zhao Lianhai, a father-turned-activist whose five-year-old son fell victim to poison milk and developed kidney stones. Leung later deleted the post, and posted another message saying, "The mainland has its own rules. If I need to delete something, so be it. But I still don't like to see incidents that are unfair, especially if they happen to regular people.".[13][14]
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