Singapore’s blogger queen Xiaxue and her husband Mike Sayre recently announced their divorce after 17 long years of being together. With their entire love story - starting right from the time they first met - being laid open in the public eye for almost 2 decades, this heartbreaking piece of news was a real shocker, especially since they seemed like they were that one perfect lovey dovey couple that would actually make it.

Xiaxue’s life might be an open book, but Mike, in contrast, barely posts on social media, preferring to keep out of the limelight. As such, fans don’t get to see as much of him as they wish to. But we gotcha, curious souls - here are 15 fun facts about Mike Sayre, Xiaxue’s ex-husband.

#1: Mike Sayre is an American from Texas

Photo from Xiaxue

Mike is an American, hailing from Dallas, the third-largest city in Texas. His family still lives there, while he has since moved to Singapore and made a successful life for himself here.

#2: His full name is Michael Marquet Sayre, and his middle name is part of a family tradition

Photo from Xiaxue

Xiaxue would typically refer to Mike as, well, just Mike, but his real name is actually Michael. His full name is Michael Marquet Sayre, and you might have noticed that their son, Dashiel Sayre (aka Dash), also has the same middle name. This middle name is part of Mike’s family tradition, passed down from generations.

Xiaxue previously explained the middle name in a blog post: “As for the middle name Marquet, it is supposedly the name of a French dude that Mike's ancestors rescued on a ship or something, and it has been passed down to the first born sons, so I guess our kid will take the name.”

You might be wondering how Marquet is supposed to be pronounced - it’s “mar-cat” and not “mar-kay”.

#3: Randomly chancing upon her blog, he had a gut feeling that Xiaxue was the one for him

Photo from Xiaxue

Mike and Xiaxue first met each other online in 2005 - long before the days of Tinder and sliding into DMs. He was Googling for something (he claims he forgot what it was) when he randomly chanced upon her blog, and just had this strange feeling that he HAD to be with her. One could say that it was love at first sight.

Sounds like a tall story, but the only other time Mike ever had such a strong gut feeling about something was when he had this urge to call a friend whom he hadn’t even been in close contact with. He couldn’t get through to his friend despite repeated calls, and even tried contacting his family. Mike later on found out that the said friend had taken his life close to the time that he thought of calling him.

Determined to win over the girl of his dreams, Mike then sent the petite blogger a humorous email detailing why short girls are better than taller ones. Attached in the email was a photo of himself, which Xiaxue found cute, so she replied and the pair began chatting frequently on MSN Messenger. Eventually this became webcam calls and even daily texts.

#4: Though broke, he emptied his bank account to meet Xiaxue in Singapore for the first time

Photo from Xiaxue

Although things were on and off for a bit, with both Xiaxue and Mike dating other people in between, the pair eventually got really close and Mike brought up the idea of visiting Singapore after just 2 months of chatting. She agreed to show him around, and he promptly emptied his entire savings account to purchase plane tickets and book a hotel, just to meet her for the first time.

It was on the 6th day of his visit that he asked her to be his girlfriend, and the pair thus embarked on a long-distance relationship with periodical visits between Singapore and USA.

#5: He is 3 years older than Xiaxue

Photo from Xiaxue (photographed by Yutakis)

Mike’s birthday is on September 19 and he was born in the year 1981, while Xiaxue’s birth date is 28 April 1984. This makes him 3 years older than her. The math shows that he was 24 when he first met her, while Xiaxue was only 21. Taking that big leap of faith on each other at such a young age must have been nerve-wracking!

#6: He studied Mechanical Engineering in university

According to his LinkedIn page, Mike has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, which he obtained from Texas Tech University. He was still finishing up this very college degree when he first popped up in Xiaxue’s email inbox.

#7: Mike is the co-founder and CEO of tech company, Kabam Robotics

Photo from Mike Sayre

After graduating from university in 2007, Mike made the decision to leave everything behind and move to Singapore for Xiaxue. Things were not smooth-sailing at all; He had sent out a bunch of job applications online, but didn’t hear back from any of the companies, so he woke up early every morning to hand-deliver his resume to various engineering firms.

Unfortunately, companies that did have open positions were only offering $2000 to $3000, while he would easily have bagged a $6000 starting salary back in America. Highly discouraged, Xiaxue wondered if it would be better if they broke up and he went back to an easier and happier life in America, but he shushed her and continued his search - eventually scoring himself a job with a pay that was almost equal to what he would get in America.

Photo from Mike Sayre

Today, Mike is a highly successful co-founder and CEO of a tech company called Kabam Robotics. In fact, his company recently bagged the title for Best Unmanned Drones and Robots for Detection/Protection in the SIA New Products Solution Awards.

Mike’s previous work experience includes being a Product Manager for RedMart, as well as a Design Engineer for Dyson, among many other accolades.

#8: He once got drunk and stood Xiaxue up on Valentine’s Day

Photo from Xiaxue

Alright, so this story is a little dramatic. On Valentine’s Day in 2008, Xiaxue was eagerly awaiting a romantic celebration with Mike, but unfortunately got stood up. He finally showed up at home at 8.30pm, drunk as heck, and promptly crashed in bed. Xiaxue tried blasting loud music so that he wouldn’t get to slumber in peace but to no avail - he was fully knocked out and sleeping like a log.

Finally, he woke up at around 6am after Xiaxue slammed the door hard on purpose. He got up, headed out of the bedroom, and yelled out thrice. Feeling resentful, Xiaxue ignored him - until he came barging into the room with blood all over his face, causing Xiaxue to freak out (as anyone would).

Shortly after, he stepped into the shower, but ended up fainting on the bathroom door. Cue Xiaxue crying and hyperventilating, before calling her best friend and mother for help. Upon hearing her daughter crying on her phone, Xiaxue’s mum immediately cabbed down from the west to help take Mike to Changi Hospital’s A&E.

Photo from Xiaxue

The story has a positive turn, though. For one, Mike’s cut wasn’t serious, so no stitches were required despite all the bleeding. And the next day, a bandaged Mike rightfully made up for his wrongdoings by bringing Xiaxue for fine dining at CHIJMES, followed by her first Gold Class movie experience, and all was well again.

The couple then went on to have more than a decade of good times together, and Mike never committed such a boo boo ever again. Well, not that we know of, at least.

#9: Although he was born blonde, his hair colour eventually morphed to brown

Photo from Xiaxue

While Xiaxue’s hair was bleached blond for a good portion of her life, it turns out that Mike was born that way, as revealed in an old blog post of Xiaxue’s featuring childhood photos of him. As time went on, his hair grew darker, and it’s currently a light to medium shade of brown.

This morphing of colour is something that occurs pretty commonly in children with blonde hair, as one’s eumelanin levels tend to increase with age.

#10: A bad habit of his is letting out smelly burps

In a “Knowing Your Other Half” episode on Xiaxue’s Guide To Life YouTube series, it was revealed that a bad habit of Mike’s is letting out smelly burps. Interestingly, Mike also agrees with this - he pretty much wrote down the same thing on his whiteboard, specifically, “burping in confined spaces”.

His farts don’t smell though, says Xiaxue.

#11: Doing laundry is therapeutic for him

Photo from Xiaxue

Get yourself a man who loves doing laundry so he can do yours for you too! Yes, they exist - and Mike is one of them.

“Why are you doing laundry? The maid is coming tomorrow,” Xiaxue once asked him.

His reply? “Because I like doing it. It’s therapeutic.”

Much to Xiaxue’s glee, she never did any more laundry from then on, as Mike would do the chore that he so loved on behalf of them both. A win-win, we would say!

#12: He likes having a lot of garlic in his food

According to Xiaxue, Mike enjoys garlicky food, as revealed in the Valentine's Day Cooking episode of Guide To Life.

Perhaps this explains point #10?

Being a true blue Texan, he’s also a fan of hot sauce.

#13: Robots and all things Science-related get him excited

Photo from Mike Sayre

If you’ve read Xiaxue’s blog over the years, you’d have seen her refer to him as a “geek” multiple times. For the records, she’s never meant this as an insult; This is really just part of his personality. Anything Science-related gets Mike super excited, especially robots - so much so that Xiaxue drew a picture of WALL-E and EVE on one of her Valentine’s Day cards to him.

Mike has also been sharing this love of robots with Dash, and he even bought him a Robi toy robot to play with, along with the full range of components. It seems like Dash does take after his dad, not just in looks but also in terms of interests!

#14: Buzz Aldrin is someone he’s a fan of

Photo from Xiaxue

Being the geek that he is, it’s no surprise that Mike is also interested in outer space. In fact, he’s a fan of Buzz Aldrin, Buzz Lightyear’s namesake.

During a Japan trip in 2010, Xiaxue very kindly sacrificed a visit to DisneySea with her girlfriends just so that she could accompany Mike to Tokyo's National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation. Here he is posing with the former moonwalker’s signature at said museum.

#15: Dr Pepper is his fave drink, but he also loves coffee

Photo from Xiaxue

Dr Pepper, a carbonated soft drink, is Mike’s favourite beverage, and its flavour can be described as a mix of cola and cherry. Though this Texas-born drink is easily available in America, it’s a much rarer find in Singapore.

According to Xiaxue, Mike also happens to be an “avid coffee lover”.

#16: Turquoise is his favourite colour

Photo from Icon Interior Design

Xiaxue and Mike’s shared home was a beach-themed one, and it’s not just because they wanted a relaxing holiday resort sort of vibe; Turquoise and blue-green shades in general are Mike’s favourite colours.

As for Xiaxue’s favourite colour, pink? Well, all things in that colour had to be “quarantined” in her “princess room” - an all-pink space specially for her clothes, accessories, and workstation. Fair enough!

#17: He worked behind the scenes on Xiaxue’s baby clothing side hustle

Photo from Baby Style Icon

Some might remember Baby Style Icon, a children’s fashion store that Xiaxue once founded with some business partners when Dash was just a baby. One would assume that she never mixed work and personal life, but little do many know that Mike was also part of this side hustle, working behind the scenes as the brand’s Operations Director and Co-Founder.

#18: With a chill personality, he often gave in to Xiaxue’s whims

Photo from Xiaxue

They say opposites attract; While Xiaxue is a firecracker, Mike is easygoing and soft-spoken, generally preferring to stay out of the limelight. Because of his chill and doting nature, he often willingly gave in to Xiaxue’s whims and preferences. This is something that both he and Xiaxue have acknowledged, and while naysayers might call him a pushover, this relationship dynamic was something that worked out for them - at least for the 17 years in which they were together.

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