Barbie and Dee Hsu first rose to fame in 1994 as the pop duo SOS. The group’s name, which stood for Sisters Of Shu (an alternative spelling of Hsu), led to their stage names: Big S and Little S. Due to contractual disputes, they later rebranded as ASOS.

The sisters initially captivated audiences with their catchy bubblegum love songs, such as “Ten Minutes of Love,” released in 1995. However, as time passed, their music careers took a backseat to their success in TV hosting, fueled by their wit and vibrant personalities.

Barbie Hsu also gained widespread recognition through her performances in hit TV dramas like “Meteor Garden,” “Mars,” and “Summer’s Desire.”

Meanwhile, Dee Hsu became well-known for her TV hosting career, particularly for the show “Kangsi Coming.”

However, their marriages were fraught with turmoil.

Barbie Hsu marriage to Chinese businessman Wang Xiaofei

As reported by PinkvillaHsu and Wang, now 45, got engaged in 2010, just 49 days after their first date, and married in 2011. Although Hsu often spoke warmly of Wang, the couple announced their separation in 2021, citing irreconcilable differences.

According to Mirror Media, The Straits Times reported that Hsu filed for divorce at a Taipei court in Nov. 2021. Rumors about their breakup had circulated since June 2021, though Hsu’s mother initially denied the divorce.

After the divorce, Hsu married South Korean musician DJ Koo in Feb. 2022, while Wang remarried Mandy, a 26-year-old businesswoman, in 2024. Despite moving on, Hsu and Wang remained embroiled in public disputes. Hsu accused Wang of infidelity, violating their divorce settlement by failing to pay spousal support, physically assaulting her, Dee Hsu, and her friends, as well as defaming her and refusing to repay money he borrowed from her. She even took legal action against Wang in Taiwan for exposing her personal details.

Meanwhile, Wang retaliated by alleging that Hsu had used his credit card to purchase luxury gifts for DJ Koo, forced him to continue paying utility bills for her luxury home in Taipei where she lived with DJ Koo and her two children, and damaged his reputation with “false accusations.”

Hsu’s family confirmed her death at age 49 on Monday through a statement released by her younger sister Dee Hsu.

Dee Hsu’s marriage to Taiwanese businessman Mike Hsu

Dee Hsu (second from L), her husband Mike Hsu (C) and their three daughters. Photo from Dee Hsu’s Instagram

Dee Hsu, 47, has been married to Mike Hsu since 2015, and they have three daughters: Elly, Lily, and Alice.

Rumors of Mike Hsu’s infidelity and partying with young women surfaced as early as 2016, according to Yahoo! Life Singapore. At the time, Dee stated: “I know the kind of person my husband is.”

Dee Hsu, who insisted she was unfazed by the rumors, explained that Mike Hsu was simply not sensitive to the kind of places he chose for social gatherings. Her mother also defended her son-in-law, saying it was natural for Mike Hsu to go out with friends.

In 2019, 8days reported that Mike was seen behaving intimately with two younger women at a nightclub. Further media investigations revealed that he had transferred 10,000 yuan (US$1,372) to one of the women’s bank accounts, sparking more speculation.

“Whenever his friends visited Taiwan, he made sure to take good care of them. I know the girls in the photo. They are his good friends,” Dee Hsu once again refuted the allegations.

In 2022, a paparazzo claimed that Mike Hsu was photographed drinking with three women at a nightclub. Then, Wang, Dee Hsu’s former brother-in-law, accused Mike of having multiple girlfriends in Shanghai.

The controversy deepened when an online influencer shared a nine-second clip on Weibo of a man resembling Mike in a club with a woman on his arm, captioning it: “Her husband really likes to play.”

In addition to her husband’s controversies, Dee Hsu faced tension with her in-laws, who pressured her to have a son.

“We were elated when I gave birth to [Elly]but after I got pregnant with another girl, the tone my in-laws used changed, and I could sense they wanted me to have a boy instead,” Dee Hsu once shared. “They started recommending various remedies to ‘ensure’ that I would conceive a son. I followed their instructions and even took medicine that they claimed would alter the fetus’s gender.”

However, these methods failed, and when Dee Hsu learned that her third child was also a girl, she dreaded informing her in-laws. When her husband, aware of her distress, took the initiative to break the news to his parents, her father-in-law was displeased and asked: “Have you tried the methods I suggested previously?”