The lesbian daughter whose father offered millions to the man who can win her heart has laughed it off.

Hong Kong publicist Gigi Chao, 33, said she thought her dad’s HK$500 million (S$65m, £40m, â‚¬50m) offer was ‘quite entertaining’.

In an interview with the South China Morning Post, she said: ‘He [her father] has an interesting interpretation of me.

When she was asked if her father was upset at her reported PACS in Paris with her partner of seven years, Sean Eav, she said: ‘He loved the attention.’

However she declined to comment on her civil partnership with her girlfriend, or on her sexuality, saying: ‘I’m not afraid to admit anything. But I do want to respect my parents.’

‘Sometimes people just refuse to accept what they are told. Let time be the witness.’

The 76-year-old shipping businessman, who claims to have had 10,000 girlfriends, rejected ‘false reports’ that his daughter had married abroad and said she was still single.

He said his offer was an ‘inducement to attract someone who has the talent but not the capital to start his own business.’

‘I don’t mind whether he is rich or poor,’ he said. ‘The important thing is that he is generous and kind-hearted. Gigi is a very good woman with both talent and looks.’

As soon as the backwards fairytale offer went viral, Chao was deluged with attempts at courtship over Facebook and Twitter.

‘I would like to announce that I have suddenly received a whole bunch of followers on my Twitter account which I never use,’ she said on Facebook.

One Twitter user said: ‘I think I could turn that Gigi Chao and earn a easy $80’, and another said ‘I have the cure for you Gigi Chao.’

Thankfully, some male admirers provided some support. A Twitter user said: ‘Yes, because a man marrying your daughter for money is better than the woman who married her for love.’