HER marriage has ended but TV host Quan Yifeng has not closed the door to love.

The 34-year-old, whose divorce was finalised on 3 Jan, said: 'Should the right person come along, why not?

'I'm definitely open to dating.'

Brave words indeed from Yifeng who constantly made headlines over her tumultuous marriage with former actor Peter Yu.

The couple, who tied the knot in 1998 after meeting on the drama series, Happy Travel Agency, were often open about their tempestuous marriage.

As early as in 2006, Yifeng, who is known for being very blunt and hot-headed, blurted out to the press that she did not have sex for an entire year because she was 'feeling depressed and found sex a chore'.

It was a much more subdued Yifeng who spoke to The New Paper last week over the phone.

When we asked her how she's feeling, now that she is single once more, she said in a placid tone: 'Emotionally, I'm okay.

'Not fantastic, of course, but I'm doing fine.'

She insisted that she and Peter had an amicable parting. They share custody of their 9-year old daughter, Eleanor.

She said the plus side to being unattached was that she 'gained better concentration at work'.

'My colleagues remarked the other day that I was looking especially radiant.

'I personally feel that I'm more focused on my career now than before, which is great.'

Currently, Yifeng is hosting the talk show, Women On Top, where a panel of special guests gather each week to discuss issues relating to women and relationships.

The show, which began last September, ranks fourth among Channel U's variety programmes, based on average viewership.

The last episode, which airs at 8pm tomorrow, features a Mars versus Venus discussion on whether it's tougher to be male or female in today's world.

Yifeng declined to relate the topic to her current single status.

But she gladly gave her views on the battle of the sexes.

Given her independent streak, we half-expected her to take the side of the fairer sex.

Instead, she said: 'It's definitely more difficult to be a man in today's world.

'Women have come a long way since the olden days; we are no longer subservient and submissive. Also, we have more demands, more goals in life.

'Guys have to adjust to this change and accept that women can be just as powerful as they are.

'It's tough for them because they are too used to calling the shots.'

She then added with a laugh: 'And not forgetting that women have the 'privilege' to cry when they are feeling down and out - not so for guys.

'Guys will be called wimps if they break out in tears.'

But despite her outspokenness, Yifeng said she dislikes the label 'powerful woman' that some have given her.

'Yes, I'm obstinate and I will stand my ground on matters I (feel strongly about), but I'm not as strong as everybody thinks I am,' she admitted.

'I have many sides (to my personality).

'There's a very indecisive side of me, which the public do not see often. What they frequently witness is my drama-mama side.

'Well, that's me too.'

It's not hard to recall Yifeng's dramatic moments.

Last year, before her divorce, she went on ChannelU talk show CelebriTea Break and spoke tearfully of how 'Peter had hurt her deeply'.

She also caused some commotion when the press reported that she was seen slapping Peter in public.

Both Yifeng and Peter later denied that this had happened.

Also, in June last year, in a surprisingly revealing interview with Lianhe Wanbao, she claimed that her marriage was a 'loveless' one.

'No fights, no tears, no laughter. We (referring to Peter and her) have no grievances or love, just tolerance,' she said then.

After the divorce, she had told The New Paper that Peter is a 'generous, easy-going and restless wanderer - one that most women would probably try to change into the ideal husband'.

But she added then, that when she realised that he was never going to turn into the person she wanted him to be, 'you just have to learn to let him go'.

Bear the pain

Yifeng said she has since put all the drama about her marriage behind her.

In a blog entry entitled 'A Letter To Myself', which she wrote at the end of last year following the announcement of her split with Peter, she admitted that while 'many things have been going smoothly' for her, she has had 'a hard, painful fall' when it came to love.

But she reassured her supporters that she will 'grit her teeth, bear the pain and stand up once again'.

What happens then should she fail to find someone to fall in love with?

'There is one major difference between males and females, and that is - when women hit a certain age, say 40, we can live better alone and are comfortable being with ourselves,' she said, chuckling.

'On the other hand, for guys, they'll feel more lonely and will be more in need of companionship.'

This article was first published in The New Paper.