“You Can’t Be From A Family That’s Too Rich Or Too Poor”: Ex Miss HK Contestant On The Criteria You Need To Fulfil To Get A TVB Contract

The Miss Hong Kong pageant came to a close last month, with 21-year-old Hilary Chong crowned this year’s winner.

However, interest in the other contestants is still high. After all, TVB is known to offer contracts to delegates with potential to be stars.

One of this year’s top 22 finishers, Kitty Wang, recently posted a clip which saw her returning to TVB with a group of other contestants.

Kitty revealed that they were there to meet with producers.

Another finalist, Juliana Guo, was also said to have met with a director, though she has yet to sign a contract with TVB.

With all the talk surrounding the girls of the 2023 pageant, former 2010 Miss Hong Kong contestant, Elle Lee, has posted a video revealing the demanding terms of a TVB contract.

Elle was heavily featured in the press when she participated in the pageant 13 years ago.

During her run, the Imperial College graduate was compared to Chinese actress Tang Wei, and had the endorsement of another Chinese actress, Zhang Tian Ai.

Though Ellle ultimately finished 11th, she was favoured by TVB, and was offered a contract while the pageant was still ongoing.

Alas, she only stayed with the broadcaster for a year.

In her video, Elle revealed that if she had finished in the top three, the contract would have taken effect immediately.

However, since she came in 11th, she was required to “meet up with the higher-ups in TVB for a chat”.

“What did we discuss? They asked about [my] aspirations [and what I] was interested in doing,” she said.

She also got a series of headshots taken, which would be sent to directors and producers upon the start of her contract.

According to Elle, they would be told: “There’s this newbie, and you can decide if you want to hire her.”

Elle then explained that the terms of being offered a contract was mainly dependent on three criteria.

“Whether you were popular during the pageant, if the media liked you, and if you were favoured by the audience. In other words, it depends on whether you are newsworthy, entertaining, and marketable enough to represent the company and make them money,” she said.

Secondly, if the contestant is “young enough”, and able to “endure hardships”.

“There’s no guarantee that you’d be famous immediately. If you’re young, you’ll have sufficient time to work your way [up]. Maybe after several years there would be a drama, or a piece of news that gives you a breakthrough. If you start out at 20-plus, it would be of benefit to the company,” she explained.

Lastly, the company would require the contestant to “be compliant”.

“If you’re not compliant, you can say bye bye. If you’re not self-motivated, you won’t be able to make it as well. As such, you cannot come from a rich family because you need to be able to ‘handle hardships’. You can’t be too poor either, because TVB really doesn’t pay well. That might result in them running off to marry a wealthy guy, or doing bad, or even illegal things to earn ‘quick money’,” she concluded.

Photos: Chinapress