Reality star who won fans with singing duet with seven-year-old daughter dies aged 45 after losing secret cancer battle
A reality star has died aged 45 after a secret battle with cancer, leaving behind her seven-year-old daughter.
Mao Yixian first came to public attention when she reached the final of a singing contest with her little girl last year.
The pair final of Good Voice Family won the junior championship. Afterwards Yixian called the experience and won the "most meaningful" performance she'd ever done.
Yixian's husband Xiao Jingsong took to Facebook to share a tribute to his late wife the day after she died. He wrote: "Our beloved Mao passed away peacefully last night. Thank you for your companionship and the love you gave us throughout. Now she has let go of her illness, her life is complete, and she has been reborn in the Pure Land."
He went on to reveal that his wife had actually been battling cancer while competing on the show and would undergo radiotherapy in the mornings before practicing her singing later in the day. Once the series came to an end, she had to undergo two surgeries, he added, but said she remained positive despite her ill health.
The couple met each other while singing and later went on to win the duet title at the Qixi Love Song Competition in Malaysia. She also came fourth at the Global Hokkien Songwriting Competition in China back in 2008.
The Malaysian singer was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2019, as reported by Need To Know. The cancer spread throughout her body and she passed away in hospital last Wednesday evening (January 7).
Her funeral took place yesterday (Monday January 13). Jingsong added that the star would “live forever” in his heart.