In yet another twist in the Vivian-Joe relationship saga, Hong Kong's EastWeek magazine yesterday reported that Vivian Chow and Joe Ni are in fact already husband and wife.

They were reportedly married in 1998 when the couple migrated to the United States, which was the reason why Vivian has stuck by her erstwhile man all this time.

The magazine went on to elaborate that when Vivian gave up her singing career to move to the US to be with Joe in 1997, she had not obtained permanent US residential status. She could only stay in the country between one and three months each time before her tourist visa expired. The couple then decided that they would register their marriage, which was witnessed by Joe's parents and a few relatives.

The couple then stayed in San Francisco until 1999 before Vivian finally received her US citizenship. The couple then moved to Canada.

In a related development, the third party, Mifty Zhang had written in her blog to wish Joe happiness with Vivian after learning that the pair had announced their marriage plans. She also wrote: "I will keep mum about our secret, because I love you".

There were earlier speculation that the 'secret' Mifty had referred to were the 'love photos' that she was reported to have wanted to make public when she was reported to have wanted to disrupt Joe and Vivian's weddin

The celebrity couple who hit the headlines over their whirlwind split-then-marriage have made their first public appearance in the past two weeks.

Joe Nieh and Vivian Chow spent Christmas Eve dinner with friends at the luxurious clubhouse Hong Kong Parkview, followed by dozens of reporters. Their wedding ceremony will be held there next month, local newspaper The Sun reported.

The public appearance was described as "extreme chaos". Vivian and Joe, hand in hand, left under escort of the restaurant workers without answering questions from frantic reporters.

The marriage ceremony will last two days. Family members and relatives are expected to appear on January 5th, and friends and business partners on January 7th, The Sun said, quoting "a reliable source.

The Joe Nieh - Vivian Chow wedding saga is not over, it seems.

A report in yesterday's Oriental Sunday, a Hong Kong magazine, revealed that Miffty Zhang, the undergraduate who is the supposed third party between longtime couple, writer Joe Nieh and actress Vivian Chow, have come between them again. This time, the 23-year-old undergraduate has threatened Joe with suicide, in order to get him to meet her again. In response, Joe has postponed his wedding plans with Vivian.

She wrote in a blog entry that she will commit suicide if Joe does not "go to meet me, or talk to me", then he can "bring me a bouquet of lilies after I'm gone".

The report also said that Miffty has been trying to contact Joe through phone calls to clarify their relationship matters, but have not been able to reach him. He only replied to her after she sent him threatening SMS-es. A close source revealed: "Joe was afraid that something untoward may happen to Mifty, and would be too late to salvage the situation if she really carried out her threat."

On the other hand, Joe has also bought a pair of Tiffany platinum rings for himself and Vivian, in a bid to reassure her

The relationship saga involving Hong Kong actress Vivian Chow and writer Joe Nieh have finally come to a resolution, when the pair took their wedding vows before a pastor in Vivian's home in Hong Kong yestereday.

However, the couple had led the Hong Kong media on a wild goose chase, with rumours that the wedding was to be held in Hong Kong's Turf Club in Happy Valley.

The bride was said to have donned friend and designer Dorian Ho's wedding dress for the simple ceremony that was witnessed by about 20 close friends.

Groom Joe Nieh reached Vivian's apartment at 3pm (Hong Kong time) yesterday, wearing a white jacket and sunglasses. He was annoyed when approached by the media who were waiting for him for comments, and declined to be interviewed. The couple's friends arrived shortly after, including the bride's make-up artist.

About an hour later, the media suspected that looked to be Vivian's escort car was driven out of the building, with the pastor leaving about an hour after that. He apparently told the waiting media that the couple were married earlier in a simple ceremony, with the proceedings ending about 4pm. He also said they were very happy after signing the papers.