Barbie Hsu: From Quirky Teenage Girl to the Fierce Queen of 'Two Deaths, One Critical Injury'

30-second overview: Barbie Hsu (stage name Da S / Big S; Chinese: 徐熙媛), born 1976, Taiwanese actress, singer, and host. In 1994 she debuted alongside her younger sister Dee Hsu (小S) as the group S.O.S. Her role as "Shan Cai" in Meteor Garden (2001) made her a household name across Asia. My Beauty Diary (2005) set a beauty trend that shaped a generation. After two marriages, her 2024 statement of "ten years of marriage — two deaths, one critical injury" shocked the public. She passed away on February 2, 2025, from influenza complications leading to pneumonia, at 48.

From S.O.S to _Variety 100%_

In 1994, the 18-year-old Barbie Hsu and her younger sister Dee Hsu debuted as the group "S.O.S" (Sisters Of Shiu); due to contract issues the group was later renamed ASOS. Their youthful style made them a quick rising presence in Taiwan's entertainment industry.¹ The sisters' career turning point came in hosting: in 1997 they took on the long-running variety show Variety 100% (娛樂百分百), pioneering a "best-friends casual chat" hosting style rare in Taiwanese variety television.²

The two formed a striking contrast on the show — Big S calm and rational, Little S lively and absurdist — but they complemented each other perfectly. Bringing private life, emotions, and even arguments directly onto screen gave audiences an intimacy rarely felt from entertainers of the same era.

Peak: _Meteor Garden_

2001 was a pivotal year in Hsu's career. She starred in the idol drama Meteor Garden, adapted from a Japanese manga, playing "Shan Cai" — resilient, refusing to bow to power — and swept Asia, successfully transitioning her from host to actress.² This wave of pan-Asian expansion of Taiwanese idol dramas was largely built on her face.

She subsequently appeared in War of the Sexes (戰神) and Fated to Love You (求婚事務所), and received a Best Actress nomination at the 28th Hong Kong Film Awards for Connected (保持通話), expanding her career footprint from Taiwan across all of Asia.²

"My Beauty Diary": The Embodiment of Punishing Beauty Aesthetics

In 2005, Hsu published My Beauty Diary (美容大王), which went through seven reprintings within two weeks with sales exceeding 800,000 copies.³ She held nothing back in sharing skincare, slimming, and hair care secrets; many of her methods were described by outsiders as "self-punishing" — trying various folk remedies in pursuit of extreme fairness, maintaining strict long-term dietary control, and at one point dropping to a weight of 39 kilograms.³⁴

This extreme dedication to beauty reflected her craving for self-control in an unpredictable entertainment environment: when the external world was in disorder, the body became one of the few domains she could fully direct. The "Beauty Queen" label thereby transcended the celebrity halo and became a reference point for the aesthetic sensibilities of an entire generation.

Two Marriages: From Lightning Romance to "Two Deaths, One Critical Injury"

In 2010, Hsu met Chinese businessman Wang Xiaofei at a birthday party hosted by An Yi-xuan; after four meetings and 20 days of dating they married in a lightning romance.⁶ This marriage lasted ten years, producing two children, and was officially announced over in November 2021.⁶

In March 2022, she announced her remarriage to Korean former love interest Gu Jun-pyo (Koo Joon-pyo), with whom she had history from 20 years prior.² Her ex-husband Wang Xiaofei's sustained public accusations kept her post-remarriage life mired in media controversy. On March 20, 2024, Hsu issued a statement through her attorney; the central phrase — "ten years of marriage — two deaths, one critical injury" — shocked the public.⁷

The "two deaths" in the statement referred to two miscarriages; the "one critical injury" referred to a near-death experience during the delivery of her second child, caused by severe uterine contractions, an allergic reaction to painkillers, and a history of epilepsy.⁷ The statement simultaneously accused Wang Xiaofei of infidelity during the marriage, domestic violence, and leaving hundreds of millions of New Taiwan Dollars in debt unpaid.⁷ For many people, this declaration was the first time they saw, beyond the idol drama heroine image, the true price she had paid in her marriage.

Closing

Barbie Hsu passed away on February 2, 2025, from influenza complications leading to pneumonia, at 48.⁸ What she left behind is more than the collective memory of a Meteor Garden generation — from the face of Asia's idol drama wave, to a shaper of beauty culture, to someone who dared to speak out from within a troubled marriage, she spent her entire life interpreting all the complexity of a specific era in Taiwan's entertainment world.

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