Christine Chiu’s Life Beyond Bling Empire and Couture

Introduction

Christine Chiu became widely known through Netflix’s Bling Empire. The cameras showed couture gowns, big parties and plenty of drama.

That was only one side.

Long before reality TV, Christine was working in marketing, business and the beauty industry. She later helped build Beverly Hills Plastic Surgery with her husband, Dr. Gabriel Chiu.

She is also a mother. A producer. A serious couture collector. And she has spent years supporting charitable projects.

Basically, there is much more behind the TV image.

Quick Facts

Fact	Details
Full Name	Christine Chiu
Birthplace	Taiwan
Background	Taiwanese American
Exact Birth Date	Not reliably confirmed publicly
Age	She said she was 42 in a 2025 W Magazine interview
Education	Pepperdine University
Studies	International Business and Philosophy
Minor	Marketing
Profession	Businesswoman, producer, reality TV personality and fashion collector
Known For	Bling Empire
Business	Beverly Hills Plastic Surgery
Husband	Dr. Gabriel Chiu
Marriage Year	2006
Children	One son
Son	Gabriel Chiu III, known as “Baby G”
Son Born	2018
TV Competition	Dancing with the Stars Season 30
Dance Partner	Pasha Pashkov
Fashion Interest	Haute couture collecting
Main Public Interests	Business, fashion, television and philanthropy

Early Life in Taiwan and the United States

Christine Chiu was born in Taiwan.

She later built her life in the United States and is publicly described as Taiwanese American.

Christine has said she grew up as an only child. That detail later became especially meaningful during her own fertility journey because she wanted her son to have siblings.

Fashion appeared early too.

In a 2025 interview with W Magazine, Christine recalled that her father collected Issey Miyake and Armani. She said he even had adult Issey Miyake clothing altered to fit her as a child.

So, yes, expensive fashion came early.

Her mother’s clothing also left an impression.

Christine told Town & Country that her mother had been an international musician and performing artist who owned custom clothing, including Chanel pieces. After her mother’s death in 2021, some of those clothes carried an even deeper personal meaning for Christine.

She has kept much of her private family history away from the public.

Reliable sources do not clearly confirm the names of her parents. For that reason, those details should not be guessed.

Her Education at Pepperdine University

Christine attended Pepperdine University in California.

Her official Dancing with the Stars profile says she graduated near the top of her class.

Her academic background was broad.

She studied International Business and Philosophy and completed a minor in Marketing.

That education fits her later career pretty well.

Business gave her the commercial side. Marketing helped with branding. And her public career eventually mixed both with fashion, media and beauty.

Career Before Bling Empire

Christine was not created by reality television.

Actually, her professional career started years before Netflix audiences knew her name.

Her official Dancing with the Stars profile says she spent more than a decade working in marketing and public relations within the cosmeceutical technology sector.

She also worked at a medical corporation.

British Vogue reported that Christine and Gabriel Chiu worked for the same company when they met. Christine was a vice president of sales and marketing there.

That experience later became useful.

The couple moved into business together.

Building Beverly Hills Plastic Surgery

Christine and Dr. Gabriel Chiu are closely associated with Beverly Hills Plastic Surgery, often shortened to BHPS.

Official profiles describe Christine as a co-owner and founder of the practice.

Her work was not limited to appearing beside her surgeon husband.

She worked on branding.

She worked on marketing.

She helped build the client base.

Her official DWTS profile also identifies her as chief creative officer and credits her with designing the clinic, developing partnerships for its non-surgical spa services and helping build the Dr. Chiu brand.

Christine has spoken about those early business years herself.

She told British Vogue that she entered Beverly Hills social circles partly because networking could help grow the medical practice.

That meant joining organizations, attending events and meeting potential clients.

It worked as business development.

The glamorous social life seen years later on television had a practical business history behind it.

Christine is also linked with the Regenerative Medicine Aesthetic Institute and SPA at BHPS.

Marriage to Dr. Gabriel Chiu

Christine married Dr. Gabriel Chiu in 2006.

Gabriel is a plastic and reconstructive surgeon based in Beverly Hills.

Their marriage and business careers have long been connected. They worked together before opening their own practice and later became familiar faces together on Bling Empire.

Netflix has described Gabriel as a direct descendant of China’s Song dynasty.

That claim comes through the family’s reported lineage and should be described that way rather than treated as independently documented genealogy.

Christine and Gabriel have now spent many years working together while raising their son.

Their road to parenthood, though, was tough.

Very tough.

The Long Fertility Journey

Christine has spoken openly about infertility.

She and Gabriel married in 2006 and faced strong family expectations to have children.

Pregnancy did not happen quickly.

They first tried different approaches and later sought medical treatment.

Christine has said that much of the early attention focused on her body and whether she was responsible for the fertility problem.

The couple went through repeated IVF cycles.

According to Christine’s interview with Netflix’s Tudum, it took six IVF cycles before doctors determined that male-factor infertility was involved.

Gabriel then underwent medical procedures.

The couple tried IVF again.

Their seventh cycle succeeded.

Their son was born in 2018.

Who Is Baby G?

Christine and Gabriel’s son is Gabriel Chiu III.

He is better known publicly as Baby G.

Motherhood became one of Christine’s most personal storylines on Bling Empire.

She has spoken about how much becoming a mother meant after years of fertility treatment.

The couple later considered whether they should have another child.

Their discussions about fertility treatment and surrogacy appeared on the Netflix series.

No reliable source confirms that Christine and Gabriel currently have another child, so Baby G remains their only publicly confirmed child.

How Bling Empire Changed Her Public Profile

Netflix released Bling Empire in 2021.

The series followed wealthy Asian and Asian-American people living around Los Angeles.

Christine quickly became one of its best-known personalities.

She brought fashion.

Big events.

Family conversations.

And, of course, drama.

Yet Christine’s involvement went beyond appearing in front of the camera.

Vogue has identified her as a producer and executive producer of the show.

She has said she was originally more interested in working behind the scenes.

Then she reconsidered.

One reason was Asian-American representation.

Christine has spoken about growing up without seeing many Asian people represented in mainstream American entertainment. Becoming part of the cast gave her a chance to help change what younger viewers, including her son, could see on television.

Bling Empire eventually ran for three seasons.

Christine appeared throughout the Los Angeles series.

The Anna Shay Rivalry

One of the show’s biggest storylines involved Christine and the late Anna Shay.

Their clashes helped drive early episodes.

They competed socially.

They disagreed.

Things became tense.

Christine later made clear that viewers were seeing a television version of her personality, with some moments pushed harder for entertainment.

That matters.

Reality television edits hours of real life into episodes built around stories and conflict.

Her relationship with Anna changed across the series, but the tension between them remained one of the best-known parts of Bling Empire.

Dancing with the Stars

Christine moved from Netflix drama to the ballroom in 2021.

She joined Season 30 of Dancing with the Stars.

Her professional partner was Pasha Pashkov.

This was a different challenge.

There were judges. Live performances. Public voting.

Christine was eventually placed in the bottom two alongside Real Housewives of Atlanta star Kenya Moore.

The judges chose to save Kenya.

Christine left the competition during Britney Spears Night in October 2021.

Her time on the show was short, but it gave viewers another side of her beyond Bling Empire.

She Nearly Joined The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills

Christine’s path to reality television could have started much earlier.

In 2024, she told People that she was approached about joining Season 5 of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills back in 2014.

She said the process reached the contract stage.

Had she joined then, she could have become the show’s first Asian cast member.

But she pulled out.

Christine explained that her family was dealing with difficult circumstances, including a death, while her husband’s family also had concerns about reality television.

Years later, Netflix became the place where she finally became a reality TV regular.

A Serious Haute Couture Collector

Calling Christine someone who likes designer clothes misses the point.

She is a long-term haute couture collector.

There is a difference.

Haute couture pieces are often made for an individual client and may require repeated fittings and months of work.

Christine told W Magazine that she began collecting seriously at around 25 or 26 years old.

By 2025, she said she had never gone through a couture season without buying something.

Her collection includes work from major fashion houses.

Chanel has been especially significant.

So has Dior.

She has also collected pieces connected with other major European designers and couture houses.

For Christine, some clothes are treated almost like art.

Christine Chiu and Chanel

Christine’s Chanel collection has received plenty of fashion press.

She told Town & Country that her first Chanel Haute Couture purchases came around 2009.

They were boots.

Not normal boots either.

She recalled paying around €40,000 per pair for two pairs.

That purchase began a long relationship with Chanel couture.

Her collection also became closely linked with the work of the late designer Karl Lagerfeld.

That connection later became important at the Met Gala.

Her 2023 Met Gala Debut

Christine attended her first Met Gala in 2023.

The exhibition honored Karl Lagerfeld.

She chose a red Chanel Fall 2015 Haute Couture gown from her own collection.

This was not a newly borrowed red-carpet dress.

She had worn it before.

Christine had previously worn the gown while meeting the then Prince Charles, now King Charles III.

For the Met Gala, the look included an extremely heavy cape. Vanity Fair reported that it weighed about 65 pounds.

Christine also discussed plans to donate up to ten couture pieces from her archive to the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute.

That says a lot about how she sees clothing.

Not as disposable fashion.

As something worth preserving.

Philanthropy and Charity Work

Christine’s public work includes years of charitable activity.

Fashion Trust U.S. lists her as having served on boards connected with Fashion Group International Los Angeles, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art Costume Council and the Museum of Contemporary Art’s Contemporaries.

She has also supported the Costume Institute and the British Fashion Council.

Other reported causes include children, health, education, arts programs and Asian-American representation.

Tatler Asia has linked the Chius with organizations including the UNICEF Chinese Children’s Initiative, Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation and Ghetto Film School.

Their charity work has included projects outside the United States too.

The Health and Wellbeing Project in Scotland

Christine and Gabriel supported a health project connected with The Prince’s Foundation at Dumfries House in Scotland.

Tatler reported that the Chius funded the medical services available to the local community through the centre.

The program focused on health and wellbeing.

This part of Christine’s public work received less attention than her television life.

Still, it is a real part of her record.

The $1 Million Baby G Donation

One of the biggest confirmed donations linked with the Chiu family came through Baby G’s first birthday.

The party was held at the Cayton Children’s Museum in Santa Monica.

But the birthday involved more than decorations.

Tatler reported that Christine and Gabriel donated $1 million in their son’s name toward a museum wing intended to help children from underserved communities receive free admission.

It became one of the family’s most widely reported charitable gifts.

Life After Bling Empire

Christine remained active in fashion after the original Bling Empire series ended.

She attended the 2023 Met Gala.

She continued her couture work.

She was also active around AAPI cultural events.

In 2025, she attended the Gold Gala wearing a custom design by Ou Ma inspired by a Qing Dynasty painting held by Taiwan’s National Palace Museum.

Christine said she had recently taken Baby G to see that painting in Taiwan.

Her public image now sits across several areas.

Business.

Fashion.

Television.

Motherhood.

And charity work.

Christine Chiu’s Age and Birthday

A lot of websites give Christine an exact birthday.

The problem is verification.

Strong primary or first-rate sources I checked do not clearly confirm an exact date of birth.

There is better evidence for her approximate age.

In a 2025 W Magazine interview, Christine said she was 42 years old.

That gives readers a useful age reference without pretending an exact birthday has been proven.

So the safer approach is simple.

Do not publish an exact birth date as confirmed unless Christine or a reliable official source confirms it.

Christine Chiu Net Worth

Many websites publish estimates for Christine Chiu’s net worth.

Those numbers vary.

There is no strong public financial record confirming an exact personal figure.

Christine and Gabriel clearly have substantial business interests and a very expensive couture collection. Their lifestyle and charitable giving have also been widely documented.

But wealth is not the same as verified net worth.

No reliable public source gives enough information to calculate her personal assets, debts and ownership interests accurately.

So an exact number would be speculation.

Christine Chiu’s net worth is not publicly verified.

That is the accurate answer.

What Makes Her Career Different?

Christine became famous through reality television, but her public story did not start there.

She already had business experience.

She already worked in marketing.

She already helped build a medical aesthetics business.

And she was already active in fashion and charity circles.

Netflix made her more visible.

It did not create the whole career.

That distinction matters.

Current Public Work

Christine continues to be publicly associated with fashion, philanthropy and Beverly Hills Plastic Surgery.

Fashion Trust U.S. listed her among its patrons in 2025.

She also remained active at major fashion and cultural events during that period.

There is no need to invent a new TV project or business move where none has been reliably announced.

For now, her established public work remains tied to the businesses, fashion relationships and charitable interests she has built over many years.

Final Thought

Christine Chiu is easy to recognize from Bling Empire.

But the TV version is incomplete.

Before Netflix, she worked in marketing and helped build a Beverly Hills medical business. She later became a producer, spoke openly about infertility, competed on Dancing with the Stars and built one of the most talked-about couture collections associated with reality TV.

She has also put money and time into charity work.

The parties made headlines.

The longer story is bigger.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Christine Chiu?

Christine Chiu is a Taiwanese-American businesswoman, television producer, reality TV personality and haute couture collector. She became widely known through Netflix’s Bling Empire.

Where was Christine Chiu born?

Christine Chiu was born in Taiwan.

How old is Christine Chiu?

Christine told W Magazine in 2025 that she was 42. Her exact publicly verified birth date remains unclear.

Who is Christine Chiu’s husband?

She is married to Beverly Hills plastic surgeon Dr. Gabriel Chiu. They married in 2006.

Does Christine Chiu have children?

Yes. Christine and Gabriel have one publicly confirmed son, Gabriel Chiu III, known as Baby G. He was born in 2018.

What does Christine Chiu do for a living?

She has worked in marketing, business, television production and the medical aesthetics industry. She is associated with Beverly Hills Plastic Surgery and became a producer and cast member of Bling Empire.

Where did Christine Chiu study?

She attended Pepperdine University, studying International Business and Philosophy with a minor in Marketing.

Was Christine Chiu on Dancing with the Stars?

Yes. She competed on Season 30 in 2021 with professional dancer Pasha Pashkov.

Was Christine Chiu going to join RHOBH?

Christine told People that she reached the contract stage for Season 5 of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills in 2014 but decided not to join.

What is Christine Chiu’s net worth?

Her exact net worth has not been reliably verified. Online figures should be treated as estimates rather than confirmed facts.

Spark Daily