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| “Feels Like Leaving Home”: Fred Cheng Bids Farewell to TVB After Two Decades. (Credits: Yahoo HK) |
Hong Kong actor-singer Fred Cheng has officially parted ways with TVB after 24 years, adding his name to a growing list of long-serving artists stepping away in 2026.
The announcement landed on 4 May via Instagram, and while it was framed with gratitude, the message was clear: one of TVB’s most familiar faces is closing the door on a chapter that began when he was still fresh out of school.
“24 years,” he wrote, a number that does most of the talking. Fred Cheng, now 42, described walking into TVB as a teenager “with more passion than experience”, and leaving it now with something closer to perspective.
The tone wasn’t dramatic, but it didn’t need to be. When someone calls a workplace “home” for over two decades, the exit naturally carries weight, whether or not they try to keep it understated.
He didn’t pretend the journey was spotless. Alongside memories of laughter in corridors and late-night shoots, Fred Cheng acknowledged the less glamorous bits — exhaustion, self-doubt, and those quiet moments of wondering if he was doing enough.
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| TVB Loses Another Veteran as Fred Cheng Leaves After 24 Years in Industry |
Still, the key takeaway from his statement leaned heavily on gratitude. He thanked producers, directors, colleagues, and the off-camera teams who kept things moving, as well as audiences who, in his words, were the real reason he kept going.
The most telling line, though, was his description of leaving as “like leaving home for the first time”.
It’s a sentiment that sounds poetic until you realise he genuinely spent more of his life inside TVB than outside it professionally.
At the same time, he made it clear he’s not stepping away from storytelling, just changing where and how he does it. Optimistic, slightly uncertain, but very much intentional.
Industry reactions came quickly. Fellow Hong Kong names including Linda Chung, Kayee Tam, and Sisley Choi dropped messages of support, the kind that read like both congratulations and quiet understanding.
Sisley Choi, notably, made a similar move earlier this year, while Nancy Wu exited in February. The pattern is hard to ignore now. One departure might be personal; several start to look like a shift.
Among fans and netizens, the response has been predictably mixed. Some see Fred Cheng’s exit as long overdue, arguing that artists of his calibre should explore wider opportunities beyond the traditional TVB system.
Others are less enthusiastic, reading the steady stream of departures as a sign of deeper structural changes within the broadcaster. Then there’s the middle ground — viewers who grew up watching him and are now processing the odd feeling that yet another familiar face is no longer part of the daily TVB lineup.
Nostalgia, with a side of mild existential crisis about how long they’ve been watching Hong Kong dramas.
Fred Cheng’s career path with TVB has been anything but accidental. From his early days in singing competitions to joining the network’s artiste training programme, and later building a steady presence in dramas and music, his trajectory mirrors the classic TVB development pipeline — one that has shaped generations of Hong Kong entertainers.
His departure, therefore, isn’t just about one actor moving on; it quietly marks the fading of a very specific era.
As for what comes next, Fred Cheng hasn’t laid out a detailed roadmap, which is either refreshingly honest or cleverly vague, depending on how you read it.
He did, however, emphasise being ready to “learn again” and reconnect with audiences in new ways. Translation: don’t expect him to disappear anytime soon.
What do you reckon — is this the start of a bigger industry reset, or simply experienced artists choosing their next chapter at the right time?