Taiwan's Belarusian bikini babe

What about the guy Next magazine surreptitiously photographed her with? Margarita managed to look coy in a leopard-print bikini on the magazine's cover two weeks ago and an inside expose showed pictures of her with her "boyfriend" -- a guy far younger and less hirsute than Chang.

"That's my roommate," she explains. "Next magazine and Apple Daily followed me for two weeks trying to find something to write about. But there isn't anything. I'm too busy to have a boyfriend. I don't have time to go out."

Her schedule is taken up, she says, by taping Chang's show on Tuesdays, meeting to decide the content of the next week's show on Friday, and spending all weekend preparing for it. Rehearsals can be all-consuming. Weeks ago, she had to rent a gu zhen (古箏) -- the stringed instrument similar to a zither -- and cart it home to practice each night. Her assignment was to learn how to play a song for the following Tuesday's show taping.

"The rest of the week, I have modeling shoots and press conferences," she said. "And I have a biography coming out later this month. It's all ready, except for the photos."

But for all the time she spends wearing bikinis in front of cameras, Margarita doesn't consider herself a professional model. Her job, she says, is simply to entertain people.

"I tried doing the serial television programs," she said, "but filming those shows isn't fun. I think you should have fun doing the show. The audience will see that and they'll have fun too."

It's a good philosophy, gauging by the reaction of people who watch her every week.

"Her ballet maybe isn't very professional, but it looks great on television!" said one avid watcher. "She's great because she comes across as nice and sweet and you can tell she really likes Taiwan."

Her goal, she says, is to host a television program of her own, but she doesn't rule out getting involved in film either.

"I just want to be a part in something that is quality," she said, emphasizing the word "part."

Asked if she's afraid that her fame is fleeting, Margarita reveals a side to her personality that likely helped gain her fame in the first place.

"Of course, all this won't last," she said smiling. "But I'm happy and feel very lucky for everything that has happened. I can always teach kids how to swim."