The name Tinglan Hong is not one that may generate any attention, rightly because she is not a regular celebrity. Hong is a former receptionist who is only famous as Hugh Grant’s ex-girlfriend. While they might not be together at the moment, her impact in his life will remain with him forever.
English actor and film producer Hugh Grant had a reputation for being an eternal bachelor who never wanted to have children. This changed when he came in contact with the one-time restaurant waitress Hong. The two made headlines during the course of their love story which although only lasted from 2011 to 2012, managed to produce two kids; Tabitha Grant and Felix Chang Hong Grant.
Tinglan Hong’s Brief Profile
Born in 1971 in the big city of Lishui of the Zhejiang Province, China, Tinglan is the daughter of a Chinese businesswoman and a father who is equally an entrepreneur. Tinglan’s exact birthdate is not yet known, neither is there any record of her siblings.
Not much is also known about her educational background, left for a record about her saying she was quite the headstrong type who is always going against the rules in high school. Also a very inquisitive type, Tinglan would always try her hands-on something new.
After high school, she enrolled in the University of Surrey where she studied for a degree in hotel and management. There are reports that she even has a master’s degree in travel and tourism.
Tinglan lived most of her life in the Eastern part of China until 2003 when she decided to leave for the United Kingdom where she began to work as a receptionist at Bayee Village Chinese restaurant in Wimbledon, South London. A few media outlets label Tinglan Hong as an actress and model but there is no record of her activities in the show business. At the Chinese restaurant where she worked, she was known as ‘Tin Tin’ by her co-employees. She also was known for entertaining guests with songs on the karaoke. You will learn more about her relationships, how she got famous and other juicy facts about Tinglan’s life below.
Intriguing Tidbits You Didn’t Know About Tinglan Hong
1. Her love life prior to meeting Grant
Tin Tin became a subject of media scrutiny after she was discovered to be pregnant for the English actor Hugh Grant.
As anyone could have guessed, however, Grant was not the first man in the life of the lovely Chinese lady as she was said to have had a couple of relationships with some lesser-known personalities. Although she is known to keep her love life very hidden, there are reports that Tinglan shared romantic moments with her London-based restaurant owner Marco Yu but their love story ended shortly after Hong met grant in 2011.
2. How did Tinglan cope with Hugh’s playboy reputation?
Hong and Hugh kept their relationships away from the public eye for quite a while until the former revealed she was pregnant for the actor. Hugh, a well-known playboy was a frequent guest at the South London Chinese restaurant and Hong, the very friendly and always smiling young lady kept all her secret affairs from her colleagues until the day she surprised them with the news of her pregnancy.
Hong knew about Grant’s records of affairs with the ladies, she even knew he was still flirting with another woman while they were dating but she was less concerned about all that, plus the fact that he is way older than her.
3. Grant was absent when Tinglan Hong had their daughter
Hong’s pregnancy came as a shock not only to her work colleagues but also to the English actor who had no initial plans for children. Howbeit, he supported her all the way but rarely allowed their relationship to go public for reasons best known to him.
When Tinglan gave birth to their daughter in September 2011, Grant was nowhere near the hospital as he chose instead to attend a political conference, a decision he said was best for Hong. Even after the birth of his daughter whom he named Tabitha Xaioxi Grant, Grant still tried to keep both the mother and daughter away from media attention. Tabitha’s name is translated “the happy accident”, as her parents had no initial plans to have her.
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4. Tinglan’s multi-million dollar mansion
Prior to her relationship with Grant and the subsequent birth of her daughter, Tinglan Hong maintained a modest lifestyle. She lived in a tiny rented apartment in suburban New Malden, Surrey. She also continued to work as a receptionist.
With the birth of her daughter, however, she did not only draw the curtains on her receptionist job but also received a mansion worth £1.2 million (approximately $1,495 million). She dedicated her time fully on raising her daughter.
Not long after Grant bought the mansion in West London for his Chinese girlfriend, their relationship ended and shortly afterwards, he hooked up with Anna Eberstein a Swedish TV producer who is currently his wife and the mother of his other children.
5. The court banned the media from her
As noted, Tinglan Hong is not a regular celebrity hence she has always cherished her privacy and her life as a normal person. However, she instantly became the subject of media gossip since it emerged that she was romantically linked to the famous English actor Hugh Grant, and they were expecting a child together. Everyone from blogs to the traditional media and paparazzi all wanted to milk out news from everything she did.
Her effort to keep away from the media hullabaloo proved abortive as she and her daughter were often being followed almost everywhere they went. She got tired of all the fuzz and sought a legal way of keeping everyone off. In November 2011, a British High Court justice Michael Tugendhat ordered all paparazzi to steer clear of her and her daughter.
6. Where is she now?
Tinglan has managed to maintain a very private life since her breakup from Grant as she got the media off her back.
The same cannot be said of the legendary actor whose life is always in the public eye. He has since moved on and only a few months after Hong gave birth to his daughter, it was reported that Swedish retail director Anna Eberstein was carrying his baby. Not long afterwards, Tinglan Hong was pregnant for him again for the second time. Tinglan gave birth to her second child with Grant in 2013, a son named Felix Chang Hong Grant.
The actor who now has five children from the two women has since tied the knot to Anna.
