Taiwanese actor Godfrey Gao participated in the Zhejiang TV reality show “Chase Me” in China in 2019. During the running segment of the show, he suddenly fainted and collapsed. Despite being urgently rushed to the hospital for treatment, he was pronounced dead. This shocking news sent ripples through the entertainment circles on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and sparked public attention on safety issues in TV production.
Six years have passed since the tragic incident. Recently, an eyewitness from that day came forward with revelations, claiming that Gao felt unwell suddenly after having breakfast provided by the production team. The lack of immediate first aid assistance when he collapsed ultimately led to his untimely death.
Rewinding back to the early hours of November 27, 2019, during the filming of Zhejiang TV’s “Chase Me,” Godfrey Gao collapsed during the running segment. Despite receiving three hours of emergency treatment, he tragically passed away. Reports later surfaced attributing his death to “sudden cardiac arrest,” igniting a wave of public outcry.
Recent online disclosures revealed that before the filming, Godfrey Gao underwent a thorough health check, where all indicators were normal. In reality, it was after consuming the production team’s breakfast that he suddenly fell ill. The failure of the production team to administer immediate first aid when he collapsed led to the unfolding tragedy.
The self-proclaimed eyewitness from the filming location that day accused the TV production team of mishandling the situation, stating that Godfrey Gao was already in a state of cardiac arrest by the time he was taken to the hospital. Despite being bound by a confidentiality agreement and even warned not to disclose anything on social media, the whistleblower chose to speak out, hoping to do something for Godfrey Gao.
Recalling the events, the eyewitness described the chaos that ensued after Godfrey Gao collapsed. They heard mainland Chinese actor Huang Jingyu emotionally shouting, “Stop filming! Where is the doctor? Where did the doctor go?” Following this, the host Hua Shao appeared on the scene with a choked voice and trembling tone, openly blaming the program team for the incident, stating that it was their fault and had nothing to do with any of the artists involved.
However, what was particularly distressing for the eyewitness was that while several artists had rushed to the scene to assist with first aid, there were still directors lingering in the backstage “casually eating melon seeds.” The whistleblower expressed disbelief, describing the atmosphere as chilling and condemning the program team for their cold indifference.
The informant remarked, “I saw a living person collapse, who just minutes ago nodded and waved to us in gratitude. This is a human life, and I simply could not remain indifferent.” They urged the public to continue following the incident and questioned the apparent disappearance of related hot searches, expressing concerns that the social attention might wane over time, prompting them to raise their voice.