Introduction to Celeb Papa: Sean Zhang

Sean Zhang (张亮, Zhang Liang), the papa of Sky, was probably the least well-known of the five when the 'Papa, Where are we going?' started.

Yet his popularity has shot up the most, rising more than tenfold, with the number of fans on his weibo jumping from a 210,000 to a 2,900,000 after merely 4 episodes. He has received the #China'sGoodPapa title, and is currently the top trending keyword on the Chinese internet.

While the average TV audience didn't know much about Sean before the show, many fashionistas have been following him for a long time. He is the No.1 male model in China, and the first ever Chinese model to walk on the Milan Fashion Week runway.

Sean only attended 10 preparation sessions prior to
his professional career. This man has got the talent.
(Photos from China Fashion Week featuring NE•TIGER 2014 Spring/Summer.)

Sean has modeled on runways and magazines, wearing from designer's clothes to mp3 players, for both local and global brands. He is also a model for luxury brand Gucci. Who would have known that this man, who's always under the limelight actually went through all sorts of hardships before his rise to fame?

Born in 1982, Sean was not a study kid. He attended cooking school for a year and became a chef when he was 16. He had also worked in auto sales. Sean admitted that the only reason he started modeling was to earn extra money for rent. Although he became a professional model in 2003, he never earned much from his initial shows and only made 1000 yuan (164USD) every month.

Sean who specializes in Catonese cuisines challenges
a flour-based recipe for the first time in episode 1.

Check out those legs. Sean stands at a tall 187cm.
We can see where Sky got his good genes from.

Fast forward 10 years, and Sean is a successful man with a notable career, a lovely son and a supportive wife. He had met his wife Kou Jing, former model turned apparel lady boss, overseas and married her at the age of 23. While the 31-year-old is the youngest on the set, it is precisely because of the small age gap between Sky and him that allows them to truly enjoy each other's company like life-long buddies.

The father-son pair has gone on runway shows
and photo shoots together many times.