In the period between 2009–2010, Tse had faced some major setbacks in the Hong Kong market, not least including the HKRIA controversy which had caused her an important platform to promote herself, leading to a decline in popularity. She became frequently attacked in the media, especially by the publications Oriental Sunday and New Monday, which were owned by Emperor Entertainment Group. It is widely thought that this was a smear tactic by EEG who perceived Tse as a threat to their contracted artiste Joey Yung, an example being that in 2008, Tse had won six awards at the Commercial Radio's year-end award show to only two won by Yung. She admitted to Black Paper Magazine in 2011 that she had suffered depression during this time, though had recovered.