Kevin Tsai (Chinese: 蔡康永; pinyin: Cài Kāngyǒng; born 1 March 1962) is a Taiwanese television host and writer. He is known for co-hosting the Chung T'ien Television talk show Kangsi Coming (2004–2016) with Dee Hsu and for his self-help book series Ways of Speaking (2010; 2014).
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Early life and education
Tsai was born in 1962 in Taipei, Taiwan, to waishengren parents who had emigrated from Shanghai, China. His father, Tsai Tien-duo (蔡天鐸), was a lawyer who had graduated from Fudan University. Before Tsai's birth, his father had co-owned a shipping company, the Chonglian Steamship Company, whose passenger ship, the Taiping, sank in 1949, leaving the family bankrupt. His father was a book collector whose library exposed Tsai to literature, history, and the arts from an early age. Tsai also accompanied his father in collecting paintings, beginning to purchase artworks on his behalf at the age of eleven.
Tsai attended Taipei Private Tsai Hsing School, graduating from its elementary division in 1974, junior high school in 1977, and senior high school in 1980. He began learning Peking opera at the age of nine and performed in a school production of Silang Visits His Mother (四郎探母). During his school years, he served as a class monitor, edited the school magazine, and was involved in student council activities. While editing the school magazine, he encouraged other students to write about politically sensitive subjects, including the February 28 incident and communist political thought, during Taiwan's period of martial law. The articles resulted in two disciplinary demerits and nearly led to his expulsion, although he ultimately remained at the school until graduation.
After completing high school, Tsai enrolled at Tunghai University, where he initially studied social work. He graduated in 1984 with a bachelor's degree in foreign languages and literature. After graduation, he moved to the United States to study film and television production at the University of California, Los Angeles, having obtained a recommendation letter from film director King Hu. While studying in Los Angeles, Tsai was invited by Taiwanese novelist Pai Hsien-yung to adapt his short story The Exiled Immortal (謫仙記) into a screenplay. He subsequently worked on the film adaptation, The Last Aristocrats, one of his earliest screenwriting projects. Tsai earned his Master of Fine Arts in film and television production from the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television in 1990.
Career
Tsai started his career as a columnist and film critic for the China Times. He wrote several film scripts, including Ming Ghost (1990) and Fong Sai-Yuk (1993). He has since become a best-selling author, known for his self-help book Ways of Speaking (2010), followed by a sequel in 2014.
In 1996, Tsai had his career breakthrough as he became the creative director of Voice of Taipei radio station, the first editor-in-chief of GQ Taiwan and the host of his first TV show, Fanshu Chudian Wang, all in the same year. Tsai continued to host a series of critically acclaimed TV shows such as Zhenqing Zhishu and Two Generation Company. Since 2004, Tsai and Dee Hsu co-hosted the talk show Kangsi Coming, which gained enormous popularity across the Chinese-speaking world. Additionally, Tsai was a frequent MC of award shows, including twice at the Golden Bell Awards and seven times at the Golden Horse Awards. In 2009, Tsai co-founded the management company HT Entertainment.
Since the 2010s, Tsai has been active in mainland China, where he found success in co-hosting the popular iQIYI debate show I Can I BB (2014 –2021) and often collaborated with his I Can I BB co-host Ma Dong and Ma's production company Mewe Media. After Kangsi wrapped in 2016, Tsai wrote and directed his first feature film, Didi's Dream (2017), starring Hsu. The film received mixed reviews and performed poorly at the box office. Tsai reunited with Hsu in 2018 for the Youku variety show Zhenxiang ba! Huahua Wanwu for three seasons, but they failed to replicate the popularity of Kangsi Coming.
In July 2023, HT Entertainment, the management company co-founded by Tsai, was disbanded. In 2024, on the 20th anniversary of Kangsi Coming, Tsai and Hsu considered reviving the show for three special episodes. However, the producer, James Chan, negotiated with the TV station to create a full season, which exceeded the hosting duo's original plan and ultimately fell through.
Personal life
In 2002, during an episode of Sisy's Show guest-hosted by Li Ao for Sisy Chen, Tsai came out after being asked by Li if he was gay, making him one of the first openly gay celebrities in the Chinese-speaking world. Tsai has been in a relationship with George Liu Kunlong, an English professor, since 1994.
Political activity
On 4 October 2026, Tsai attended the opening of the campaign headquarters of Puma Shen, the Democratic Progressive Party's nominee for mayor of Taipei in the 2026 Taiwanese local elections, arriving in a mask and orange shirt. Through his manager he said he had come "to see for myself" and wanted to hear views from all sides, without explicitly endorsing Shen. The appearance drew a backlash on Chinese social media, where users called him "two-faced" and urged a boycott of his endorsements; several brand partnerships in China were reportedly cut and some of his mainland Chinese programmes were taken off streaming platforms. Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council criticised Chinese pressure on Tsai, while Shen and Chiang Wan-an defended his attendance as a democratic norm.
