Allan Wu (born June 11, 1972) is a

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

-based

Chinese-American Chinese Americans are Americans of Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans have ancestors from mainland China, Hong Kong ...

actor, host, VJ and model. He is best known for being the host of 3 different editions of the popular reality game show, ''

The Amazing Race ''The Amazing Race'' is an adventure reality competition franchise in which teams of two people race around the world in competition with other teams. ''The Amazing Race'' is split into legs, with teams tasked to deduce clues, navigate themselv ...

''. He was the host of 5 seasons of

AXN Asia AXN is a pan-Asian pay television channel owned by KC Global Media Asia and headquartered in Singapore. The channel primarily airs action shows, notably police procedural dramas, with most of its content originating in North America. Formally a ...

's ''

The Amazing Race Asia ''The Amazing Race Asia'' is an Asian reality competition show based on the American series ''The Amazing Race''. Following the premise of other versions in the ''Amazing Race'' franchise, the show follows teams of two as they race across Asia a ...

'', 3 seasons of

International Channel Shanghai International Channel Shanghai, better known as ICS, is the foreign-language cable channel of Shanghai Media Group Radio and Television Station of Shanghai (RTS), a Shanghai-based state media outlet, and its wholly owned subsidiary, Shangha ...

's '' The Amazing Race: China Rush'' and 4 seasons of

Shenzhen Media Group Shenzhen Media Group (SMG, ) is a state media company based in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China. It owns twelve TV channels and four radio stations which broadcast music, report news and Chinese talk shows. Shenzhen Media Group is controlled ...

's Chinese edition of ''The Amazing Race''. Wu decided to change his Chinese name because it was similar to

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

film star

Francis Ng Francis Ng Chun-yu (; born 21 December 1961) is a Hong Kong actor and director. He is known for his roles in the TVB series '' Old Time Buddy'' (1997) and '' Triumph in the Skies'' (2003), as well as in films such as '' Bullets Over Summer'' ...

().

Early life and education

Wu was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, United States to Chinese immigrant parents from

Shenyang Shenyang,; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly known as Fengtian formerly known by its Manchu language, Manchu name Mukden, is a sub-provincial city in China and the list of capitals in China#Province capitals, provincial capital of Liaonin ...

Liaoning ) , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = Clockwise: Mukden Palace in Shenyang, Xinghai Square in Dalian, Dalian coast, Yalu River at Dandong , image_map = Liaoning in China (+all claims hatched).svg , ...

, China. His first language was Mandarin as his parents spoke it at home. He graduated from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

in the United States and worked in the biotechnology industry for several years. He eventually discovered his desire to become an actor after an accident made him reassess his life. He did some modeling for a while and also participated in an episode of the reality competition series ''

Fear Factor ''Fear Factor'' is an American stunt/ dare game show that first aired on NBC from 2001 to 2006 and was initially hosted by comedian and UFC commentator Joe Rogan. The show was adapted by Endemol USA from the original Dutch series titled '' ...

'', where he placed 2nd. He moved to

where he worked as an actor.

Career

Despite struggling with limited knowledge of

Cantonese Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...

, MTV

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

gave him a stint as a VJ, during which he co-hosted a

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

concert. He moved to Singapore and began acting in Chinese language drama series on Channel 8. He has been the host for all five seasons of ''

''. He is also the host of '' The Amazing Race: China Rush'', the Chinese version of ''The Amazing Race''. In

Season 16 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and polar ...

of the American version of ''The Amazing Race'', Allan Wu made a cameo appearance in Singapore, handing out clues.

Venture into podcasting

In 2024, Wu launched ''Call Us Daddy'', a male-centric podcast tailored for older men that has garnered attention for its high-profile celebrity guests and candid discussions. The show has made headlines for offering raw and personal insights into the lives of its guests. In one popular episode, actor

Christopher Lee Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a career spanning more than sixty years, Lee became known as an actor with a deep and commanding voice who often portrayed villains in horr ...

shared his regret over not completing his education, while another notable episode saw entrepreneur and former radio personality

Daniel Ong Daniel Ong Ming Yu (; born 27 December 1975) is a Singaporean businessman, radio DJ and television host. He is the co-founder of Twelve Cupcakes, a Singapore-based cupcake chain. He also entered the eateries business with ''Mischief American' ...

address the controversial Twelve Cupcakes scandal.

Personal life

In September 2011, Wu and his family relocated to

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

, China to be nearer to job commitments. Wu was married to former

Mediacorp Mediacorp Pte. Ltd. is the state media, state-owned media conglomerate of Singapore. Owned by Temasek Holdings—the investment arm of the Government of Singapore—it owns and operates television channels, radio, and digital media properties. ...

actress Wong Li Lin and they have a daughter Sage and son Jonas. The couple is managed by

Fly Entertainment FLY Entertainment (Chinese:飞艺娱乐) is a Singapore-based entertainment agency, specialising in services for the entertainment industry in Singapore and the region. Divisions include Artiste Management, Event Management and Marketing & Publi ...

. In 2013, the couple separated.

Filmography

Television series

Film

Television shows

Brand ambassador

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
Personal Website / BlogProfile
on xinmsn

at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wu, Allan 1972 births Living people Male actors from Los Angeles Singaporean male television actors American male actors Chinese game show hosts Hong Kong male models University of California, Berkeley alumni Singaporean people of Chinese descent American emigrants to Singapore Chinese male models American people of Chinese descent Participants in American reality television series Singaporean male film actors Singaporean television presenters 20th-century Singaporean male actors 21st-century Singaporean male actors