A TVB reporter covering the Tokyo Olympics apologized for her behavior during an interview with gold medalist Edgar Cheung, in which she told the fencer that she “really likes” him and even sent him flying kisses.
“Just like other Hongkongers at the time, I was very emotional and happy… I deeply regret my immature and unprofessional performance,” Kelly Chan wrote in an Instagram post Tuesday night.
Her apology came after netizens flooded Chan’s Instagram posts, criticizing the reporter for getting carried away by her excitement and making Cheung uncomfortable with her questions. (The comments have since been deleted.)
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During the Monday night interview, Chan—who was among a group of Hong Kong reporters—gushed over the 24-year-old athlete, who was still in shock after having just won the city’s first gold medal in 25 years.
“I..I…I really like you, what should I do!” Chan stuttered. She also blew a kiss to Cheung, which she said was on behalf of her livestream viewers who told her to send love to the athlete.
Read more: 9 Hong Kong athletes to root for at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics
At one point, Chan playfully said she would start calling Cheung “Kam Ka-long,” the last name, “Kam” meaning gold in Cantonese.
Cheung, on the other hand, kept his cool throughout the interview. He said he was grateful to his family members for putting up with his temper at home on days when he was flustered with his training, and thanked Hongkongers for cheering him on.
According to The Standard, the reporter initially said in a now-deleted Instagram post that she did not think she handled the interview poorly.
The champion fencer’s coveted achievement is Hong Kong’s second Olympics gold medal win in history. The first was in 1996, when windsurfer Lee Lai-shan clinched the title at the games in the US city of Atlanta.
