Their visit to WA was meant to be shroud in secrecy, but with camera crews and minders in tow, it was hard to keep quiet the fact the stars from Chinese reality show, Viva La Romance, were in Busselton.
The Busselton Jetty made no secret that they would be used as a location, announcing on Facebook that filming would be occurring from 2pm to 5pm on January 21.
The City of Busselton also alluded to some exciting news on their social media, showing some unidentified VIPs at the Busselton Margaret River Airport.
When the Chinese TV personalities continued their journey to Perth, their cover was blown, with fans and Rockingham businesses taking to social media about their presence.
Besides Rockingham, the cohort also took in Rottnest Island.
Hunan TV’s Viva La Romance follows the lives of Chinese celebrity couples. The wives are filmed on holiday, while their husbands watch on to understand their wives better. The program aims to improve and re-examine their relationships.
In it’s first season, more than 1.6 billion viewers turned in.
The cast for the second season hasn’t been officially confirmed, but Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Memoirs of a Geisha star, actress Zhang Ziyi, is among the celebrities set to feature.
Tourism Minister Paul Papalia was thrilled by the exposure the show would provide for WA.
“The reality TV show will air in March to an audience of hundreds of millions of people in China, one of Western Australia’s key tourist markets.
“The program will showcase some of the state’s unique and stunning destinations across Perth and the South West.
“As one of the most popular reality shows in China, Tourism WA will be working with Chinese travel agents to convert the exposure into bookings following the broadcast of the episodes.
“Tourism WA partnered with Hunan TV a few years ago on the Daddy Where Are We Going reality series, which was shot in Margaret River and resulted in 241 million TV viewers and an advertising value of $347 million dollars.”
He said China was a crucial tourist market the government was focused on growing.
“Currently 57 thousand Chinese visitors come to Western Australia annually and spend $271 million dollars, making China the State's largest international visitor market by spend,” he said.
