Dee Hsu

Hsu was born in Taipei, Taiwan, as the youngest of three sisters. Her eldest sister is Hsu Shi-hsien, followed by Barbie Hsu, with whom Dee debuted as a musical duo in 1994 initially known as S.O.S. (Sisters of Shiu). Their cousin, Chelsey Chang Chia-ru, is a news anchor and journalist.

In 1996, amid a declining music career and contractual disputes with their label, which banned them from releasing albums under the group name,^[6] they rebranded as A.S.O.S. [zh] (Adult Sisters of Shiu) and, at the invitation of TV producer Wang Wei-Zhong, who later became their manager, shifted their career focus from singing to hosting. They co-hosted variety show Guess (1996–2000) with Lung Shao-hua and then Jacky Wu, respectively; entertainment news program 100% Entertainment (1998–2005);^[7] variety show Weekend Three Precious Fun (週末三寶Fun) (2001) with Harlem Yu;^[8] and cooking show Gourmet Secrets of the Stars  [zh] (2007–2008).^[9][10] They ended their management partnership with Wang Wei-Zhong and established their own studios in 2010.^[11]

From 2004 to 2016, Hsu co-hosted the talk show Kangsi Coming with Kevin Tsai, gaining popularity across the Chinese world for her wacky, sassy, and often caustic wit. After Kangsi wrapped, Hsu hosted two seasons of iQiyi's S-Style Show (2016–2017), her first time hosting a show in mainland China. The program was briefly taken down by the Chinese censors in 2017 due to its alleged explicitness. Hsu and Tsai reunited for the Youku variety show Zhenxiang ba! Huahua Wanwu for three seasons from 2018 to 2020 until the Covid-19 pandemic, but they failed to replicate the popularity of Kangsi Coming.^[12] In 2018, Hsu participated in the Chinese reality show Her Flower Store. In 2019, she participated in the Chinese travelogue series We Are Real Friends with Barbie, Mavis Fan and Aya Liu.^[13] She hosted Dee's Talk [zh] (2021–2022), co-produced by Barbie.^[14] Hsu had been hosting the web show Dee Girls Talk (2022–) until the death of Barbie in February 2025, after which she took a six-month leave, with Sandy Wu serving as the stand-in host.^[15]

As a solo singer after Pervert Girls (2001), the last album of A.S.O.S. [zh], Hsu released her EP in 2014 under the stage name elephant DEE. The EP features five songs composed by her; four include lyrics written by her, while one has lyrics by Barbie. She held her first solo concert at the live house Legacy Taipei the next year. In 2019, she released a promotional duet, "I Am Not Madame Bovary," with Da Peng for the film of the same name.^[16] In addition, Hsu wrote lyrics for singers such as Tanya Chua, Mavis Fan and Eric Chou.

As an actor, Hsu starred in Taiwanese sitcom Six Friends (2002) and TV drama Say Yes Enterprise (2004). After Kangsi Coming wrapped in 2016, Hsu starred in the film Didi's Dream (2017), directed by Tsai. The film received mixed reviews and performed poorly at the box office. She had a cameo in the Chinese version of Meteor Garden (2018), a remake of Barbie's breakout show in 2001. She acted opposite Wu Kang-ren in the Netflix show At the Moment (2023).

Hsu dated Micky Huang for four years until their high-profile breakup in 2000 at the height of Huang's popularity, which derailed Huang's career due to his alleged cheating with Bowie Tsang.^[17] The former couple reconciled on Kangsi Coming in 2015.^[18]

Hsu married Taiwanese businessman Mike Xu (许雅钧) in 2005. They have three daughters, Elly (許曦文), Lily (許韶恩) and Alice (許曦恩).^[19]

In 2013, Hsu was embroiled in a scandal involving Top Pot Bakery, a brand she endorsed and in which her family held shares. The bakery was exposed for using artificial flavoring in products advertised as "all-natural." Additionally, Hsu, her husband, and her father-in-law, Xu Ching-hsiang (許慶祥), were charged by prosecutors with insider trading between June and August 2013, when they had become aware of the bakery's unpublished financial losses and the planned change of chairman at its parent company, Genome International.^[20][21][22] In 2014, prosecutors dropped charges against Hsu.^[23] In 2015, Hsu's husband was found not guilty, while her father-in-law was sentenced to two years in prison. In 2016, her husband's acquittal was reaffirmed in the second-instance ruling, while her father-in-law's sentence was reduced to 1 year and 10 months, with a 4-year probation and 20 hours of mandatory legal education. In 2018, the Taiwan High Court upheld the second-instance sentence for her father-in-law.^[24]

In 2021, Hsu referred to Taiwanese Olympians as "national players" on social media. Despite her background in a deep-blue family and being a high-profile Kuomintang supporter, the term was criticized by Chinese nationalist internet users, and Hsu was accused of signaling support for Taiwanese independence, resulting in the loss of her endorsements in mainland China.^[25][26][27]

The Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council of China called the incident a "deliberate act" by those with "political manipulation" in mind, targeting Taiwanese celebrities working in mainland China and "sabotaging cultural interactions." The Office also called for netizens to "sharpen their instincts and not allow secessionists to cause problems with their bad behaviour." Hsu thanked the Office for clarifying on Weibo.^[28]