KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 8 ― Speculation is rife that there is tension between TVB chief creative officer Wong Cho Lam and the station's senior management following failure by Linda Chung to win the Best Actress award in the recent TVB Anniversary Awards ceremony.

Wong, who joined the station in January last year with Eric Tsang, set tongue wagging following his absence from the ceremony recently, Jayne Stars reported. 

Cho Lam later posted photos of him with actors Vincent Wong, Owen Cheung and Samantha Ko with him on a trip in China, and revealed that he would be there for some time.

Sources claimed that Cho Lam’s actions were due to Chung losing out on the Best Actress award.

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Viewers had been rooting for her in the medical drama Kids’ Lives Matter and Cho Lam even encouraged Chung to grace the ceremony by “baiting” her with the award. 

It was likely he also advocated for Chung's win, given that the latter shared a close relationship with his wife Leanne Li.

However, two of TVB’s top executives, Catherine Tsang and Virginia Lok, have differing opinions on who should be crowned TV Queen, which was later awarded to Rosina Lam. 

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There was also talk that upper management stopped Kids’ Lives Matter from winning the “Best Actress” and “Best Drama Series” awards. 

This led to Cho Lam having a big argument with Tsang and Lok, and the drama ended up with only two minor awards ― “Malaysia’s Favorite TVB Actress” for Chung and “Malaysia’s Favorite TVB Drama”.

Since joining the station, Cho Lam has achieved good viewer responses by introducing diverse variety programs such as Have a Big Laugh, Dub-of-War, Top Sales and Mama’s Day.

Forming part of the team to shake things up at the station along with Tsang, Cho Lam was invited to take up the role of Chief Creative Officer due to his steady popularity in China in recent years, which earned him the label “Variety King”.