Kevin Tsai
Taiwanese television personality and writer
title: "Kevin Tsai" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1962-births", "living-people", "tunghai-university-alumni", "taiwanese-gay-writers", "taiwanese-lgbtq-screenwriters", "taiwanese-television-personalities", "taiwanese-film-directors", "taiwanese-screenwriters", "writers-from-taipei", "gay-screenwriters", "taiwanese-lgbtq-broadcasters", "20th-century-taiwanese-writers", "21st-century-taiwanese-writers", "lgbtq-film-directors", "ucla-school-of-theater,-film-and-television-alumni"] description: "Taiwanese television personality and writer" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Tsai" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Taiwanese television personality and writer ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Kevin Tsai |
| image | 20200312—Kevin Tsai 蔡康永, interview, Elle Taiwan screenshot (03m14s).jpg |
| caption | Tsai in 2020 |
| native_name | 蔡康永 |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Taipei, Taiwan |
| occupation | {{flatlist |
| agent | HT Entertainment (2009-2023) |
| television | Kangsi Coming (2004-2016) |
| I Can I BB (2014-2021) | |
| partner | Liu Kunlong (1994–present) |
| father | Tsai Tien-duo |
| othername | Tsai Kang-yong |
| alma_mater | {{ indented plainlist |
| :: |
| name = Kevin Tsai | image = 20200312—Kevin Tsai 蔡康永, interview, Elle Taiwan screenshot (03m14s).jpg | caption = Tsai in 2020 | native_name = 蔡康永 | birth_name = | birth_date = | birth_place = Taipei, Taiwan | occupation = {{flatlist|
- Television host
- Writer}} | agent = HT Entertainment (2009-2023) | television = Kangsi Coming (2004-2016) I Can I BB (2014-2021) | partner = Liu Kunlong (1994–present) | father = Tsai Tien-duo | othername = Tsai Kang-yong | alma_mater = {{ indented plainlist |
- Tunghai University
- University of California, Los Angeles (MFA)
Kevin Tsai (; born 1 March 1962) is a Taiwanese television host and writer. He is known for co-hosting the Chung T'ien Television talk show Kangsi Coming (2004–2016) with Dee Hsu and for his self-help book series Ways of Speaking (2010; 2014).
Early life
Tsai was born in Taipei to a once-prominent family with Shanghai roots. His father, Tsai Tien-duo, was a Fudan-educated lawyer who had co-owned Chonglian Steamship Company, then China's largest shipping company, until the sinking of the Taiping Steamer in 1949 forced the company into bankruptcy.
Tsai attended Taipei Private Tsai Hsing School from preschool through high school, a span of 14 years. In high school, he served as the president of the student union and editor-in-chief of the school magazine, where he published then politically sensitive articles about the February 28 Incident and communism, risking expulsion during his senior year. He entered Tunghai University in 1984 to major in social work before switching to English. Tsai then went to pursue a master's degree at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Theater, Film and Television, where he helped Taiwanese writer Pai Hsien-yung to adapt his short story about the Taiping into a film script, which would become The Last Aristocrats directed by Xie Jin. In 1990, upon graduation from UCLA, Tsai moved back to Taiwan.
Career
Tsai started his career as a columnist and film critic for the China Times. He then wrote several film scripts, including Ming Ghost (1990) and Fong Sai-Yuk (1993). He has since become a best-selling author, known for his self-help book Ways of Speaking (2010), followed by a sequel in 2014.
In 1996, Tsai had his career breakthrough as he became the creative director of Voice of Taipei radio station, the first editor-in-chief of GQ Taiwan and the host of his first TV show, Fanshu Chudian Wang, all in the same year. Tsai continued to host a series of critically acclaimed TV shows such as Zhenqing Zhishu and Two Generation Company. Since 2004, Tsai and Dee Hsu co-hosted the talk show Kangsi Coming, which gained enormous popularity across the Chinese-speaking world. Additionally, Tsai was a frequent host of award shows, including twice at the Golden Bell Awards and seven times at the Golden Horse Awards. In 2009, Tsai co-founded the management company HT Entertainment.
Since the 2010s, Tsai has been active in mainland China, where he found success in co-hosting the popular iQIYI debate show I Can I BB (2014 –2021) and often collaborated with his I Can I BB co-host Ma Dong and Ma's production company Mewe Media. After Kangsi wrapped in 2016, Tsai wrote and directed his first feature film, Didi's Dream (2017), starring Hsu. The film received mixed reviews and performed poorly at the box office. Tsai reunited with Hsu in 2018 for the Youku variety show Zhenxiang ba! Huahua Wanwu for three seasons, but they failed to replicate the popularity of Kangsi Coming.
In July 2023, HT Entertainment, the management company co-founded by Tsai, was disbanded. In 2024, on the 20th anniversary of Kangsi Coming, Tsai and Hsu considered reviving the show for three special episodes. However, the producer, James Chan, negotiated with the TV station to create a full season, which exceeded the hosting duo's original plan and ultimately fell through. Later that year, following his appearance on the Kangsi-inspired web talk show Mao Xue Woof, Tsai announced his retirement, though he still makes appearances on variety shows afterwards.
Personal life
In 2002, during an episode of Sisy's Show guest-hosted by Li Ao for Sisy Chen, Tsai came out after being asked by Li if he was gay, making him one of the first openly gay celebrities in the Chinese-speaking world. Tsai has been in a relationship with George Liu Kunlong, an English professor, since 1994.
Bibliography
Tsai has written seven books, including:
- , published 1996
- , published 1996
- Those brilliant things the guys gave to me (), published 2004
Filmography
Film
::data[format=table]
| Year | English title | Mandarin title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | The Last Aristocrats | 最后的贵族 | Co-screenwriter | |
| 1990 | Song of the Exile | 客途秋恨 | Associate Producer | |
| 1993 | Fong Sai-yuk | 方世玉 | Co-screenwriter | |
| 2017 | Didi's Dream | 吃吃的愛 | Director, co-screenwriter | |
| :: |
Hosting
Awards ceremony
::data[format=table]
| Year | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 38th Golden Horse Awards | Co-host (with Carol Cheng) |
| 2002 | 39th Golden Horse Awards | Co-host (with Carol Cheng) |
| 2003 | 40th Golden Horse Awards | Co-host (with Carol Cheng) |
| 2004 | 40th Golden Bell Awards | Co-host (with Dee Hsu) |
| 41st Golden Horse Awards | Co-host (with Chiling Lin) | |
| 2005 | China Fashion Awards | Host |
| 2006 | 43rd Golden Horse Awards | Co-host (with Patty Hou) |
| 2007 | 42nd Golden Bell Awards | Co-host (with Patty Hou) |
| 2010 | 47th Golden Horse Awards | Co-host (with Dee Hsu) |
| 2013 | 50th Golden Horse Awards | Host |
| :: |
Variety show
::data[format=table]
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1994-1995 | 流行都市 | Host |
| 1996-1997 | 翻书触电王 | Host |
| 1998-2003 | 真情指数 | Host |
| 2002-2005 | 今天不读书 | Host |
| 2003-2005 | Two Generation Company 两代电力公司 | Host |
| 2004-2015 | Kangsi Coming 康熙来了 | Co-host (with Dee Hsu) |
| 2005 | View 360 观点360 | Host |
| 2005-2006 | 志永智勇电力学校 | Co-host (with Chiling Lin) |
| 2006-2007 | Happy Saturday 幸福星期六 | Host |
| 2014-2020 | I Can I BB 奇葩说 | Mentor |
| 2015 | The Million Second Quiz 百万秒问答 | Host |
| 2017 | Desserts Club 男子甜点俱乐部 | Host |
| 2017 | The Temptation of the Meal S2 饭局的诱惑（第二季） | Host |
| 2018-2020 | 真相吧！花花万物 | Co-host (with Dee Hsu) |
| 2023 | The Echo of Life 众声 | Host |
| :: |
Music video appearances
::data[format=table]
| Year | Title | Singer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | "陷阱 Trap" | Cindy Yen | |
| 2012 | "你存在 Existence" | Shin | |
| :: |
Awards and nominations
Golden Bell Awards
|- | rowspan=2 |2003 | Zhen Qing Zhi Shu | Best Host in a Culture & Education Programme | |- | rowspan=3 |Two Generation Company | rowspan=7 |Best Host in a Variety Programme | |- | 2004 | |- | rowspan=2 |2005 | |- | rowspan=4 |Kangsi Coming (康熙来了) | |- | 2006 | |- |2007 | |- |2008 |
References
References
- (2005-01-27). "Historic sea tragedy revisited - Taipei Times".
- (1996-05-15). "先求生存，再造理想－台北之音 {{!}} 遠見雜誌".
- "Kevin Tsai, Dee Hsu’s new variety show fails to impress".
- "海灘娛樂有限公司".
- TVBS. "蔡康永突「宣布引退」！ 驚拋震撼彈：我已經做夠了│TVBS新聞網".
- http://gsrat.net/news/newsclipDetail.php?ncdata_id=3963 Title: "The First LGBT TV show in Mainland China, Kevin Tsai as Guest Host" News wired By ''Gender/Sexuality Rights Association Taiwan''
- http://www.castro.com.tw/news/t040322.htm {{Webarchive. link. (2008-02-08 Title: "Madam Wenying Wants to come out of closet?! Kevin Tsai voices up about unfairness in LGBT." News wired by ''TVBS - Taiwan 03/22/04'')
- http://mail.nhu.edu.tw/~society/e-j/22/22-09.htm {{Webarchive. link. (2008-02-08 Title: "Double Standard: Media throws mud over LGBT." Article by ''郭明旭'' Forwarded by ''Nanhua University - Taiwan'')
- "蔡康永同性男友意外露脸 被媒体首次曝光(图)-搜狐娱乐频道".
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