Henry Golding’s success story is enough to convince anyone that they can make it big in Hollywood. The former hairdresser recently played the lead role in Last Christmas alongside Emilia Clarke, and he is set to star in the G.I. Joe spin-off Snake eyes. Henry has relied on his ambition and the love of his wife Liv Lo to reach his current heights.
Henry started out as a hairdresser in London before landing the position of a presenter on BBC’s The Travel Show. In 2017, he landed his most famous role as Nick Young in Crazy Rich Asians.
Liv Lo is a star in her own right, and she is carving out a niche for herself in the fitness world. Read through as we explore some of her untold truths.
She described breastfeeding as more difficult than labor and giving birth
Lo and Henry welcomed their first child, daughter Lila, on 31st March 2021. In a subsequent interview with Ellen DeGeneres, Henry described Lila as a ‘sleep terrorist.’ “I think there were many moments of me just cowered on the floor beside her crib, just wishing she would let me sleep a little bit,” Henry said.
Henry stated that he was more concerned than Liv during Lila’s delivery. 16 hours into labor, Liv looked like her usual calm self while Henry was freaking out. At the 2021 MTV Movie & TV awards, Golding raved about fatherhood and the joy that Lila brings to the family.
“Every morning it’s like she comes up with something new, something exciting,” he said. “She make this look at you or she smiles. Every day is a joy. It’s crazy.” He added that the first weeks after delivery were tough on Liv, but she’d recovered.
“It’s a challenge,” he said. “I think with every woman, they go through so much, not only physically, but mentally.” In his interview with Ellen, Golding described Lila is ‘milk-hungry all the time.’ On 24th May 2021, Liv posted a photo showing how Lila’s insatiable hunger had affected her breasts.
“My breastfeeding battle scars,” she wrote. “For me, it was harder than the 24-hour labor and vaginal birth.” She detailed more about her experience and offered advice on how to approach breastfeeding via an article posted on fitsphere.com.
She is swapped modeling for fitness coaching after trying out yoga
Lo spent most of her early life in Taiwan before moving to Tokyo for college. In Tokyo, she was scouted by a modeling agency, and she began working as a model. She then transitioned into entertainment, and after trying out yoga, she decided to become a fitness instructor.
During Liv’s time as a fitness instructor, she developed her own fitness program known as FitSphere. She developed the program after finding out that practicing yoga alone made her body stagnate. She decided to combine yoga with high-intensity interval training, and thus created FitSphere.
She first tried out the routine on her students, and she found success. The routine worked, and after a while, she introduced FitSphere to the world.
Lo’s goal with FitSphere is to give people a realistic fitness plan with realistic results. She wants people to be comfortable in their bodies, and that is the motivation behind her program. Lo told South China Morning Post;
“My mission is just to help people find their fitness and to stick with it for life. No matter what stage people are at, I want them to find a fitness that is meaningful to them. It’s so much more than trying to look good, or be trendy, or lose weight.”
FitSphere’s allure is that it is a program that you can commit to every day. While developing the program, Lo tried as much as possible to make it easy to do at home. It is less intense than most other programs designed to achieve similar goals. She continued;
“Sometimes I don’t have more than a few minutes to dedicate to developing my mind-body practice. With that in mind, I wanted to empower others to have a different view of what their fitness could be, not just ‘get quick results’ as there is no longevity in that.”
Leonardo DiCaprio’s Before the Flood ignited Lo’s passion for environmental conservation
Lo’s passion for environmental conservation was ignited when she watched Before the Flood by Leonardo DiCaprio. She suddenly realized how much she was hurting the environment without even noticing, and it ignited something inside her. Lo told South China Morning Post;
“I literally couldn’t sleep because I looked around me, and I just saw plastic everywhere, I saw my air-conditioner on, I really observed and took note of how I got to and from work, and how I treated my environment, and those around me. There was an imbalance and I was no longer OK just going about my day like before with no thought of my actions.”
Lo realized that her daily routine was harming the environment, and she decided to change. She also started talking more about the environment and the steps she was taking to preserve it. Lo hoped that she would influence more people if they saw her taking steps rather than just talking about the issue.
Lo talked to SCMP about the importance of living sustainably;
“The idea of living consciously and sustainably is a way that I could give back to the earth instead of just taking, taking, taking all the time. You can live a very fulfilled and happy life cultivating a good environment around you.”
She travels to different countries around the globe promoting fitness and environmental awareness
FitSphere is a digital platform, and it is accessible from most parts of the globe. The program has made Lo a globally-recognized fitness coach, and she regularly travels to different countries to give fitness tips and promote her program. She talked to SCMP about her global goal;
“As FitSphere is a digital platform, I am looking forward to doing more global events, where I can meet our community from around the world and reach more people.”
Lo spreads the environmental conservation message wherever she goes. For instance, when she went to Kuala Lumpur, she planned to have the food served in wooden cutlery and paper boxes instead of single-use and plastic cutlery. She also chose a venue that allowed a plastic-free event. Liv also encouraged her guests to carry re-usable water bottles instead of plastic ones.
Travelling around the world the way Lo does can be stressful, but she has several personal comforts that make her feel at home. She told SCMP;
“Skin care, diet, as well as bringing your ‘portable comforts’, such as your water bottle, and your reusable coffee canister. Those kind of things just make me feel like I’m able to be myself no matter where in the world I am.”
Lo approached Henry at a New Year’s Eve party as he seemed reluctant to approach her
Lo and Henry met at a New Year’s Eve party in 2010. Henry noticed Lo from across the room, but he was reluctant about approaching her. They were both interested in each other, but for some reason, Henry didn’t approach Lo.
Lo had previously shared her perspective about the night she met Henry. She revealed on Instagram that she had tried as much as she could to get Henry’s attention. She went wild, even dancing on speakers at some point.
Liv decided not to wait any longer, and when Henry was close enough, she pounced. Henry revealed on Live with Kelly and Ryan;
“I was popping off to the loo, and she just steps in my way. She was like, ‘Why haven’t you said hello to me yet? I’m leaving tomorrow and you’re never going to see me again. What are you going to do about it?’ So I got her number and we went for brunch the next day… But don’t you just love it when a woman just punches you in the face? It’s hot when a girl takes you by the collar.”
Henry and Lo got married in 2016 in Henry’s hometown of Sarawak, Malaysia
The couple had to do long-distance for a while because Henry lived in Singapore, and Lo lived in Tokyo. They were able to forge a strong connection, and during the couple’s 4th Anniversary, Henry proposed. The couple was on holiday in Phuket, and they had spent the day touring temples and finding secret beaches. Henry planned to propose after they’d had dinner.
Lo talked to Her World about the proposal; “He had booked a restaurant at sunset that ‘just so happened’ to have a string quartet playing and was serving champagne on arrival. But, I just thought that he was being romantic as it was our anniversary. However, we took a stroll on the rocks and he proposed at the magic hour. Unforgettable.”
The wedding was a simple affair at the Cove 55 resort in Henry’s hometown of Sarawak, Malaysia. The garden ceremony was followed by a fairy-lit reception. It wasn’t love at sight for Lo and Henry, but rather love that grew stronger as they got to know each other. Henry told People;
“There’s always a little bit of magic when you first meet a person, but it doesn’t occur to you. It’s not like, ‘Oh my God, that’s a person I’m going to marry.’ There’s like, ‘Wow, there’s something about them,’ but it’s when you get to know somebody, when you build a relationship, that you become a team. That’s when you start realizing, this is the love of my life.”
She stated that the couple deals with their conflicting schedules by maintaining constant communication
Henry’s career as an actor is on the rise, and he is participating in one project after another. He is currently filming Snake Eyes in Vancouver. Henry tries to take Lo with him when he can, but it’s sometimes impossible when Lo is traveling with FitSphere. Henry talked to People;
“It’s a lot of time away, which isn’t the greatest thing, but I manage to bring my wife to as much as possible and we have an amazing time. Life has changed for the better for sure.”
Lo revealed in a candid IGTV video that they keep the fire burning by maintaining constant communication. She was responding to fans who asked her how she and Henry make the relationship work despite spending a lot of time apart. She responded by saying;
“I can’t say that what works for me is going to work for you because it’s just not that way… I can generally give advice and say that for us, communication is key. We know each other’s love languages, we know each other’s needs. And as long as we’re able to fulfil that and give each other love… then we’re all good.”