and meals herself. To earn extra money for other expenses, she lied about her age to work in a video rental store. Whilst at the store, she would often rent numerous series and movies to watch, which eventually influenced her to work in the entertainment business. She attended John Dewey High School. While there, she learned to speak Cantonese from a classmate. She won first place at the International Science and Engineering Fair in the Botany sector in 1998. She was the valedictorian of her class, thus earning her full scholarship to the prestigious Wellesley College, where she majored in political science. Ye is fluent in Cantonese, English, and Mandarin. She was influenced by her stepmother to enter the 1998 Miss Greater Chinatown NYC beauty pageant. She was 2nd runner up, but the winner resigned and the 1st runner up declined the title. She accepted the title and competed in Hong Kong for the Miss Chinese International 1999 competition on her birthday and won. After the competition, she went back and finished her first year of college. After further consideration, Ye decided not to continue her studies, but instead signed a contract with TVB. Her previous aspiration was to become a lawyer. Career In July 1999, she signed a contract with TVB. At the beginning of her career, Michelle Ye was well promoted by her company. She starred in several series and eventually earned "Fa Dan" status. Ye's most notable friends in the business are Myolie Wu and Rain Lau, in which they became sworn sisters after filming Eternal Happiness. Ye was rumored to have dated several men, but among all of them, she only admitted to dating Benny Chan. Chan and Ye first worked together on the set of Gods of Honour. It was not until filming Network Love Story in China that they started to date. They dated for two years and allegedly split due to personality differences. After Jessica Hsuan was unable to film World's Finest, Hsuan recommended Ye to take the role as "Hai Tang". Director Wong Jing took notice of Ye and eventually offered her a contract with Rich & Famous Talent Management Group Limited, the same company that manages Shu Qi, Anthony Wong, Edison Chen, Denise Ho, etc. Ye's contract with TVB, which she did not renew, ended in June 2005. Instead, she accepted the contract with Rich & Famous Talent Management Group Limited