娱乐英语新闻:Andy Lau admits marriage, certificate comes to light

BEIJING, Aug. 30 -- Hong Kong entertainer Andy Lau married his longtime girlfriend, Carol Choo, in Las Vegas last June, according to Saturday media reports.

    The pop star has admitted his marriage to Choo on his official website Saturday noon and apologized for having not kept his promise.

    A reporter from Taiwan's Apple Daily found details of their marriage registration on a Clark County, Nevada, public information website. It showed that Andy Lau and Carol Chu married on June 23, 2008 under the names Lau Tak Wah Andy and Choo Lay Keng.

    Lau and Choo were spotted holding hands in the Kuala Lumpur airport before flying back to Hong Kong last Tuesday, having attended the memorial ceremony for Choo's father in Malaysia earlier that week.

Hong Kong film star Andy Lau, who was awarded as Asian Filmmaker of the Year at the 11th Pusan International Film Festival, listens to a reporter's question at a news conference in Pusan, about 420 km (262 miles) southeast of Seoul, October 14, 2006.

    That was the first public acknowledgment of their two-decade relationship.

    Previously, some of Lau's close friends had pointed out that Lau, who has been idolized by a massive fan base across Asia over the past two decades, must pretend to be single for the sake of his work.

    A Choo family friend in Malaysia recently revealed that Lau and Choo had been married for quite a long time and had just hidden the marriage to protect themselves, according to media reports.

    Lau had acknowledged a relationship once before in the earlier 1980s, arousing the ire of his fans, enraging advertisers and causing problems for his girlfriend of the time.

    Netizens have voiced support for the pop star and expressed their best wishes.