Jordan Chan’s biggest regret: selling his brother for RMB 3000

Jordan Chan shared about his impoverished upbringing and his dad’s harsh treatment towards him as the eldest child at home when he guested on Chinese reality series Where Are We Going, Dad? last year. He revealed that he was once chained to the door to prevent him from leaving the house to play and was shaped into the person he has become today through his father’s strict parenting.

Following his return to the sixth season of the wildly popular variety programme, reports on his previous interviews about his rough childhood and family have resurfaced again.

According to China media, Jordan grew up in a village in Guangdong province with his parents and younger brother. Due to their poor living conditions, he once suggested his parents sell off his younger brother to give him a better life and ended up receiving a beating from his father.

However, his parents did eventually sell his younger brother for RMB 3,000 (approximately S$500) as they were left with no choice, he added, during an interview on Where Are We Going, Dad?

“When I was young, our living conditions were terrible, our family had trouble affording daily meals which was why, to let my younger brother lead a better life, I had suggested that we send him to a rich household. Not only will he have a better future, our family would be able to get by too,” he said in an interview.

When he was in secondary one, Jordan skipped school and followed his father to Hong Kong to do odd jobs. The entire family squeezed and lived in a cage home that was only big enough to accommodate a bunk bed.

The 51-year-old did a variety of part-time jobs before he enrolled as a student in TVB’s dancer training class in 1985: he made dim sum in a teahouse, delivered drinks for a roadside stall and even learned hairdressing.

After he had the ability to care for his family, Jordan revealed that he tried to reconnect with his younger brother but the latter could not be found, making it one of his biggest regrets in life.

Photos: PBE Media

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