Everybody is pretty much convinced that Hugh Grant’s baby-mama is Tinglan Hong, a woman he briefly dated earlier this year. Hugh’s rep only confirmed that Hugh was now a father, and that the affair was “fleeting” – but not the identity of the baby-mama. Once again, the rep said: “I can confirm that Hugh Grant is the delighted father of a baby girl. He and the mother had a fleeting affair and while this was not planned, Hugh could not be happier or more supportive. He and the mother have discussed everything and are on very friendly terms.” Translation: Hugh boned a girl that he was dating (not-exclusively) and she got pregnant and he was pissed about at first but now he just wants everybody to know he’s a good guy, and he’s still single and ready to mingle.

So, Tinglan Hong. She’s 32 years old, and a Chinese national who lives in London. The baby was allegedly born five weeks ago in London by C-section, and The Mail reports that Hugh was NOT there for the birth, but that he “is said to have spent around half an hour with her the following day before heading to Scotland to play in a golf tournament.” The golf tournament lasted four days, and Hugh was there all four days – and it was the same Scottish tournament where Liz Hurley and Shane Warne got engaged – suspicious, right? Hugh comes in and says “I’m a father! Wow.” And Liz is all, “Well, Shane and I are engaged, damn it. TELL HIM SHANE.” The Mail also reports that Hugh and Tinglan began dating in January, and the relationship “petered out soon after she fell pregnant.” I’ll bet. Apparently, Hugh has also purchased a fancy new apartment for her and the baby too. Here’s more:

Hugh Grant has set up the mother of his baby daughter in a £1.2 million house little more than a mile from his home. The terrace property in Fulham was bought by a cousin of the film star in July, three months before Chinese ‘actress’ Tinglan Hong gave birth.

Grant, who has been filming in Berlin, paid a surprise visit to mother and daughter last night. Arriving at around 7.30pm in a Ferrari, he said: ‘I have a 24-hour break from filming in Germany. I have come back to protect my baby.’

He left after spending an hour inside with Tinglan and the child, whose birth on September 26 has yet to be registered.

Little more than a year ago, 31-year-old Tinglan was living in a tiny rented flat in suburban New Malden, Surrey. Her new home was bought for £1,175,000 by Grant’s cousin Flora Hood, wife of Henry, the 8th Viscount Hood and Personal Lord in Waiting to the Queen. Tinglan moved into the house soon afterwards as she prepared to give birth to 51-year-old Grant’s daughter at the private Portland Hospital in Central London.

Grant claims his relationship with Tinglan – who now drives a £40,000 Mercedes and wears designer clothes including £500 Christian Louboutin shoes – was a ‘fleeting romance’.

It has nevertheless propelled the girl brought up in the Zhejiang province of Eastern China into one of the most exclusive social sets in London. Grant is close to cousin Flora who lives an imposing three-storey town house in Notting Hill, the backdrop to one of the star’s most famous films. Last year he donated £10,000 to Flora’s JustGiving fundraising site when she ran the London marathon. Nigella Lawson was another donor offering £200 while Camilla Soames donated £100. Flora declined to comment last night when asked whether she had bought the house on Grant’s behalf.

Tinglan’s romantic relationship with Grant might be over but his spokesman insists the star will be a ‘supportive’ father. The actor, who is estimated to be worth £40million, started dating Tinglan in January when they were seen kissing at a pub in Kensington near his £3million home. Grant is regularly seen with dates in the bars of Kensington and Chelsea but friends say he had hoped to keep the relationship secret.

Tinglan was described at the time as an actress but she is not listed on the film database IMDB and there are no traceable records of her participating in any television or film projects.

A friend said: ‘He is a bit of a sad character, and Ting seemed to be filling a void in his life – telling him all the time that he was wonderful.’

At the time they were seeing each other Tinglan was aware Grant was seeing other women. In April, the couple were photographed at a fashionable Vietnamese cocktail bar near his home but Tinglan – by then pregnant – was not drinking. The couple appeared awkward together and in deep conversation.

Legally, the baby’s birth must be registered by next Monday. The new mother was wearing dark sunglasses when she left her new home in her silver Mercedes CLK yesterday to buy the day’s newspapers. Friends of Tinglan in China have told how she allowed the star to call all the shots in their relationship.

One said: ‘When she was dating Hugh Grant, he was still dating other women. She knew that and she accepted it. She was subservient to Hugh during their relationship. Every time they met, she would choose the most convenient place for Hugh.’

Tinglan is understood to have grown up in Lishui in China’s Zhejiang province, where her mother was a successful businesswoman. On Chinese language websites her school friends tell of a fun-loving, rebellious student who left her well-to-do family behind to seek a new life in England. One friend said she was pretty and confident, standing out from her conservative fellow students with her ‘weird clothes’ and hair dyed in different colours.

Neighbours at Tinglan’s old flat in New Malden remember her as a girl who enjoyed a good social life. One said: ‘Cars would turn up late at night and drop her off – you used to see Mercedes and Bentleys turning up at all hours. Once she was in her flat, you might not see her again for a couple of days.’

Hugh Grant is a major star in China, where his inoffensive romantic comedies cause no difficulties for Communist Party censors and are massively popular, particularly among women. However as news of Tinglan’s relationship with the actor spread across Chinese blogs yesterday, most fans were disapproving.

‘Elizabeth Hurley is such a fantastic woman and even she couldn’t keep hold of Hugh Grant so what chance does a plain Chinese girl have?’ wrote one blogger.

Another said: ‘Hugh is a playboy who needs his freedom. He can’t stay with one woman.’

[From The Mail]

So, basically, Tinglan was looking for a rich guy and she found one and she got knocked up in hurry, but we shouldn’t feel like Hugh got “trapped” or anything because he’s kind of sad and he just wants a lady around him who will stroke his ego and tell him how brilliant he is. Sigh… Hugh’s kind of d-bag, right? And Tinglan doesn’t sound like a prize either. Team Baby.

Photos courtesy of WENN.