JAMIE Yeo isn't the only former MediaCorp celebrity to make the news with her handsome foreign partner.

There is speculation that ex-actress Fiona Xie's current boyfriend is an American-Australian named Luke Fehon, Lianhe Wanbao reported on Tuesday.

Xie, 28, quit the local showbiz scene in July and is now based in Hong Kong.

Mr Fehon is said to be 25 and once studied at Sydney's St Aloysius College, an independent all-boys Catholic school.

In an old side profile shot dated 2002, he is seen wearing his school uniform and sporting a strong resemblance to Hong Kong star Edison Chen.

Wanbao added that Mr Fehon's dad is a wealthy retired banker, Mr Christopher Fehon, who was one of the head honchos at Citibank before his retirement.

When his son was younger, the elder Mr Fehon decided to relocate his family from Australia to New York.

They returned to their home country only a few years ago.

In 2006, the senior Fehon apparently spent AUD$5.5 million (S$7 million) to build a luxurious fishing resort, Nimbo Fork Lodge, at the Australian town of Tumut, on the outskirts of the Australian capital of Canberra.

Lianhe Wanbao journalist Wang Yingmin, who broke the story, told The New Paper that she confirmed the identity of Xie's boyfriend by "piecing all the information" together.

"Fiona had mentioned in her last interview a few details of her relationship, like how her significant other was Australian-American, and how she was leaving MediaCorp to follow him to Hong Kong," said Ms Wang.

"Also, we found his Facebook page, plus her Twitter page that addressed his mum in one of the updates.

"It was too much of a coincidence. Everything fit just nicely."

On Xie's Twitter page, she updated her status in August last year with the line "good morning mrs mehon", a possible reflection that she had already been introduced to her boyfriend's mother.

After the Wanbao article was published, Mr Fehon promptly removed his Facebook page, which had previously contained loving couple pictures of himself and Xie.

Facebook friends

According to Wanbao, Xie's younger brother Dylan was also on Mr Fehon's "friends" list on Facebook.

The New Paper was unable to contact Xie on her mobile phone.

Some of Xie's industry friends were defensive when contacted, declining to confirm if Xie was indeed in a romantic relationship with Mr Fehon.

"I know Fiona personally," said Mr Michel Lu, owner of The Bakery Cafe at Prive and Cafe Hacienda, sounding evasive.

"But I really cannot comment on this."

Celebrity hairstylist David Gan claimed he "does not know anything" about her relationship.

"The last time I spoke to Fiona was in July, when she called me from overseas to wish me happy birthday.

"Besides that, we didn't talk much."

This article was first published in The New Paper.

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