TV host Dee Hsu regrets suggesting Japan trip which led to sister Barbie Hsu’s death
Lim Ruey Yan
The Straits Times
April 22, 2026
Taiwanese TV host Dee Hsu has expressed regret over organising a 2025 family trip to Japan, after which her elder sister, Barbie Hsu, died on Feb 2. The actress succumbed to influenza-related pneumonia at the age of 48.
This was revealed by Dee Hsu, 47, in the April 20 episode of her talk show Dee Girls Talk (2022 to present), which she co-hosts with Patrick Liu.
Hsu, better known by her stage name Little S, recently returned to the series a year after the death of Barbie, or Big S.
Hsu was chatting on the April 20 episode with her good friend, fellow TV host Kevin Tsai, who previously co-hosted the popular talk show Mr Con And Ms Csi (2004 to 2016) with her.
Recalling the final family moments with Barbie, Hsu said that the hot spring trip to Japan during the Chinese New Year season was her idea, as that was the only time their children could join them on overseas holidays.
Hsu has three daughters aged 14, 18 and 20 with her businessman husband Mike Hsu, while Barbie shared a nine-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter with her former husband, Chinese businessman Wang Xiaofei.
Barbie was surprisingly determined to go on the holiday, despite usually being afraid of getting tired, Dee Hsu revealed.
Although their mother Huang Chun-mei had initially objected to the trip due to the high costs during the festive period, she was eventually persuaded by the Hsu sisters.
“Every time I think of my sister, I wonder: If we had listened to mum and not gone for the trip, would things have turned out this way?” Dee Hsu said on Dee Girls Talk.
She added that her heart is still filled with regret even though her mother told her not to have such thoughts and to stop blaming herself.
Hsu said she was unwilling to face the world after her sister’s death, spending her time sleeping and watching TV dramas instead.
She said her life then was almost a blank, adding: “I didn’t know what I was doing.”
Hsu said she and her mother coped with Barbie’s death by drinking and also reminiscing about her, “using the conversations to express our grief”.
Tsai said that his mind also went blank when he learnt of Barbie’s death, with his only thought then: “What about Dee Hsu? She is done for.”
The 64-year-old said that all his actions and decisions then were based on the assumption that “Little S was in the worst possible situation”.
The TV host said it was not until he and Hsu appeared together at Taiwan’s Golden Bell Awards in October 2025 that he felt she was slowly becoming herself again.
The pair were at the award ceremony as prize presenters for Best Host in a Variety Show, which went to Hsu and Liu for Dee Girls Talk.
Tsai was recently in Singapore as a celebrity guest at the 2026 Star Awards on April 19, where he presented the awards for Best Programme Host, Best Entertainment Programme and Best Infotainment Programme.
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