Actor Dai Xiangyu reveals he considered divorcing wife Chen Zihan and even told his family before talking to her

Ex-Mediacorp heartthrob Dai Xiangyu and his Chinese actress wife, Chen Zihan, always seemed like the "perfect couple".

Remember their eighth anniversary photo shoot last year, where Dai was forced by Chen to wear a wedding gown?

But just like every couple out there, the 40-year-old actor and Chen's relationship has its fair share of ups and downs too.

In a recent episode of the Chinese couple reality show Our Love Song, Chen revealed that their marriage was actually on the rocks at some point.

The reason? 

As Dai and Chen, who have been married since 2016, were both busy with their own careers in different parts of China, they were apart for too long and led separate lives.

At that time, the Little Nyonya star had fallen into deep anxiety due to his family's worsening health and financial pressure. As someone who's extremely introverted, he chose to process his negative emotions alone.

The emotional turmoil eventually got so bad that the actor began considering getting a divorce.

He even informed his family of his intention for a split without discussing it with Chen first.

“He told his family he wanted a divorce, but I knew nothing about it," said Chen Zihan, who only knew that their marriage was falling apart afterwards.

After realising something amiss with their relationship, it was Chen who insisted that Dai Xiangyu fly to her filming location to talk things over face-to-face.

There, she made her stance clear: “I’m the kind of person who fixes a broken TV, I don’t just replace it with a new one.”

Dai finally opened up about the overwhelming pressure he was under during that particular conversation, which led Chen to express how hurt she was at being kept in the dark.

That was also when Dai realised how destructive it was for him to make decisions on his own and the couple ultimately decided to "give it another try".

Apart from that, Chen also revealed the couple's unsuccessful attempts to conceive a child, even with the help of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF).

The actress stopped working from 2022 to 2025 just to focus on having a baby.

"I really didn't act for three years. We did about 12 test tube treatments, with daily injections," said Chen.

She shared that the experience was "very pitiful" and that she and Dai regularly wept in each other's arms on the streets.

When one of the guests, Chinese actress Zhou Qiqi, responded that she always thought the couple "just didn't want kids", Chen clarified that it was she who really wished for a child.  

"No, it's just me. I absolutely love kids, and I believe children are an important part of one's life journey," she said.

True enough, in a previous interview, Dai did describe Chen as the "braver person" in the relationship when it comes to having kids.

"I am not a brave person, and I'm not brave enough to have a child. My wife is more courageous, but this is not something that can just 'happen' even if she is brave," he said back in 2023.

Regardless, after going through all that, Chen said that her relationship with her husband is gradually healing.

The couple also adopted a stray cat, which helps ease the regret of not having a child.

Dai Xiangyu has since declined to respond to Chen Zihan's comments on the show when contacted by Chinese media Lianhe Zaobao. However, he shared that both he and his wife are in a good place.

As to whether or not they will continue trying for a child, Dai said he would "leave it up to fate".

This story was originally published in 8Days.

For more 8Days stories, visit https://www.8days.sg/