Taiwanese-Canadian actor and model Godfrey Gao died earlier today after collapsing on set of a Chinese reality show called Chase Me.
The 35-year-old was competing to win a race as a part of the Ningbo, China-based series when he collapsed unexpectedly. The Vancouver Sun reports that Gao was heard saying "I can't carry on" before cameramen swarmed him.
A responder on scene tried to resuscitate him using CPR but to no avail. Gao was later taken to hospital and pronounced dead.
A statement from the network that produces Chase Me later confirmed that Gao had suffered from an apparent cardiac arrest.
Gao's agency, JetStar Entertainment, stated:
We are very shocked and saddened and even until now find it impossible to accept. Thank you media friends and every fan of Godfrey's for their concern. His management and team were present and his family were urgently rushed to the location. Please respect Godfrey's family in this time of sorrow and refrain from disturbing them. We will accompany Godfrey's family to handle discreet funeral arrangements. Thank you, everyone.
Gao was born in Taipei, Taiwan, in 1984. His family moved to Canada while he was still a child. The towering 6'4" Gao spent his youth in Vancouver and later when to Capilano University, where he played for the school's basketball team.
Gao later moved back to Taiwan to pursue a modelling career and would go on to be the first Asian model to appear in a Louis Vuitton advertisement campaign in 2011. The Guardian dubbed the then-26 year old "the world's first Asian male supermodel."
Gao had acting credits in Harald Zwart's 2013 film The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones.
Fans and friends have paid tribute to Gao in the wake of this tragic news. See those posts below.
The 35-year-old was competing to win a race as a part of the Ningbo, China-based series when he collapsed unexpectedly. The Vancouver Sun reports that Gao was heard saying "I can't carry on" before cameramen swarmed him.
A responder on scene tried to resuscitate him using CPR but to no avail. Gao was later taken to hospital and pronounced dead.
A statement from the network that produces Chase Me later confirmed that Gao had suffered from an apparent cardiac arrest.
Gao's agency, JetStar Entertainment, stated:
We are very shocked and saddened and even until now find it impossible to accept. Thank you media friends and every fan of Godfrey's for their concern. His management and team were present and his family were urgently rushed to the location. Please respect Godfrey's family in this time of sorrow and refrain from disturbing them. We will accompany Godfrey's family to handle discreet funeral arrangements. Thank you, everyone.
Gao was born in Taipei, Taiwan, in 1984. His family moved to Canada while he was still a child. The towering 6'4" Gao spent his youth in Vancouver and later when to Capilano University, where he played for the school's basketball team.
Gao later moved back to Taiwan to pursue a modelling career and would go on to be the first Asian model to appear in a Louis Vuitton advertisement campaign in 2011. The Guardian dubbed the then-26 year old "the world's first Asian male supermodel."
Gao had acting credits in Harald Zwart's 2013 film The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones.
Fans and friends have paid tribute to Gao in the wake of this tragic news. See those posts below.