What Has Happened With the ‘Bling Empire’ Cast Since Season 1?
Long live the Bling Empire! After a hiatus of nearly 16 months, the Netflix reality series about “Los Angeles’s beloved uber-rich Asians” is back for a second season on May 13 with “even more luxury, glamour and crazy,” as the streaming service puts it.
“This season, a romance between Kevin and Kim percolates, Cherie and Jessey’s relationship is questioned, and as Kane and Kevin’s best bud friendship is tested, Beverly Hills’s rivaling queens, Christine and Anna, put a new twist on the art of social warfare,” Netflix adds in a press release. “But through it all, the one thing these friends hold dearest to their hearts is their love for each other…and of course, impeccable style.”
And if you’ve been following the tabloids over the last year and a half, you know that Bling Empire has a lot of ground to cover. Here are just some of our Bling ring’s recent developments…
Kelly Mi Li and Andrew Gray split.
After seeing Andrew Gray’s explosive outbursts in Bling Empire Season 1, you might not be surprised to learn that he and Kelly Mi Li went their separate ways shortly after the season started streaming in January 2021.
“Over the past five and half years, Andrew and I have shared some incredible times together. I have a tremendous amount of respect and love for him and will always cherish the memories we made,” Li wrote on Instagram in March 2021, per Us Weekly. “However, we have made the difficult decision to officially separate at this point in our lives. We are both so grateful to have experienced a relationship that allowed us to grow and learn so much. Andrew and I plan to continue working on becoming the best versions of ourselves individually.”
Li later told Page Six that she was in a “dark place” in Bling Empire’s first season. “I didn’t feel free to be myself because I was walking on eggshells, because I didn’t want to upset [Gray],” she said.
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Li also sued Bling Empire producer Jeff Jenkins.
Last month, People reported that Li had sued Bling Empire producer Jeff Jenkins, alleging in a complaint filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court that she came up with the idea for the show and that he took her idea and didn’t give her credit.
The complaint claims that Li’s months-long work developing Bling Empire with Jenkins led to the “successful sale of the show” and that his self-named production company and the company Bongo, LLC, “took and exploited Plaintiff Li’s concept and materials,” the magazine added.
Cherie Chan and Jessey Lee got engaged—and married in secret.
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You saw Cherie Chan pop the question to Lee on Bling Empire, but Jessey Lee offered her his own marriage proposal in Paris in August 2021.
They got married the following month, tying the knot in front of just eight guests at the Château de Saran castle Champagne, France, as they revealed months later on E!’s Daily Pop.
“This wedding, he planned everything,” Chan added. “I think I got lucky. I didn’t have to do anything. I wasn’t bridezilla.”
Christine Chiu competed on Dancing With the Stars.
Christine Chiu and dancing partner Pasha Pashkov took 14th place on Season 30 of Dancing With the Stars, getting the boot after performing a paso doble to Britney Spears’ “Stronger.”
After her elimination, Chiu explained to Extra what she took away from the experience. “First of all, a better body,” she quipped. “But, you know, so many great memories, great choreography, great friendships—not just with the amazing Pasha but with everyone on the cast—[and] just dancing my heart out. I couldn’t have asked for more, really. This is such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and to be able to live my dream this way, it’s still very, very amazing and still very surreal.”
Kane Lim surprised fans with a ‘Selling Sunset’ connection.
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Kane Lim’s real estate moves have been in the headlines lately. For starters, he’s an agent with The Oppenheim Group of Selling Sunset fame, as Popsugar reported.
“I have my license at the O Group,” he wrote on Instagram earlier this month, confirming his connection to the real estate agency. “I represent myself buying and selling properties. FYI: Agents take 2.5–3 percent for every one transaction, and that’s a lot of money, and that’s why I got my license so I can save the money.”
Lim also listed his Los Angeles home for $1.89 million this spring, with Selling Sunset’s Chrishell Stause as his listing agent, per People.
Jaime Xie went vintage with Law Roach.
Vogue spilled a lot of ink, so to speak, on Jaime Xie’s fashion collaboration with stylist Law Roach—whom you might recognize from Legendary and America’s Next Top Model—for Paris Fashion Week and Milan Fashion Week last month.
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“Jaime and I are both vintage lovers, so us crossing paths was a godsend,” Roach told the magazine. “Recently, I’ve been putting vintage on a lot of my clients, and it’s just something that feels natural.… Jaime has quite the vintage collection, especially for someone so young. Fashion comes first for her, and it’s been an interesting collaboration because of that. Sometimes when you work with an actor or singer, the clothes are secondary to the projects. With Jaime, fashion is at the forefront of who she is—she’s willing to try anything and devotes the time to understanding style.”
Bling Empire, Season 2 premiere, Friday, May 13, Netflix
