5 K-Pop Idols Who Dealt With Unfortunate Situations Before Their Debut

K-Pop idols have to deal with a lot of unfortunate things when they debut, but some idols also had to deal with unfortunate situations before they debuted. Here’s a list of 5 of these idols.

1. Soobin (TXT)

In a live broadcast, TXT’s Soobin revealed that his parents initially were against his dreams of becoming an idol. When Soobin’s mother learned that her son was trying to become an idol, she tried to stop him.

How I secretly applied for an audition and passed the first round and got a callback for the second round. I told them after I passed. But, they said no.

— Soobin

Soobin’s parents also told him that he didn’t have the talents to become an idol and that he should give up.

They said I was deluded from watching just the outward appearances of the entertainers, but it’s not an easy path. And, they made it clear that I don’t have that kind of talent. They said that to make me give up.”

— Soobin

Despite this, Soobin was determined to go to his second round of audition. Soobin’s mother was quite protective of her son, so she told him to go, but had doubts he would succeed.

I told them I’ll pass the next audition if they let me go. They said no, but I was really insistent. So, my mother finally said I should go and find out it was out of my league. She said I would never pass the audition and it would be a waste of time. She said I should try it out and fail.

— Soobin

Soobin ended up passing the second audition, but his mother still tried to persuade him to quit trying to become an idol.

After I passed, she still tried to talk me out of being a trainee. She said I should just keep studying… I said I could still study while being a trainee.

— Soobin

Thankfully, Soobin’s mother eventually gave in and let Soobin pursue his dream.

She made a difficult choice… So she gave it a lot of thought and finally decided to let me be a trainee. I asked my mother, and she said she thought I would get kicked out within a year as a trainee. She was really surprised when I joined the debut team. She was so happy when I debuted.

— Soobin

2. V (BTS)

Before BTS debuted, the members often uploaded videos and photos to communicate with their fans. However, V was not a part of this, as he was BTS’s “secret weapon“, a hidden member that was going to be revealed at a later time from the other 6 members. While this was Big Hit Entertainment‘s (BTS’s agency) plan, this was a tough time for V.

When all of the members were shooting for their own logs, I was the only one who couldn’t, so I was very sad.

— V

V admitted that he felt sad that he was unable to interact with the other members when they were shooting videos.

When the hyungs were shooting their logs in the studio, I would follow them and shoot my own but I couldn’t upload it.

Shooting alone, I would say, ‘Today is this day of this month in 2013. I did this. This probably won’t get released, right? I’m sad.’

— V

3. Chaeryeong (ITZY)

ITZY’s Chaeryeong participated in several survival shows before her debut, such as K-Pop Star 3 and SIXTEEN.

Getting revealed so early to the public, Chaeryeong had a fanbase before she even debuted. However, she also dealt with a lot of malicious netizens before she debuted as well. Chaeryeong admitted that she didn’t feel much joy when she found out she was going to debut in ITZY due to these malicious netizens.

I don’t know why, but after becoming the debut team which I had dreamed of for so long, I thought it all meant nothing if I was already being hated like this.

— Chaeryeong

Thankfully, Chaeryeong is now focusing more on her fans and is trying to ignore these malicious netizens as much as possible.

Now that I have fans who are rooting for me, if they knew that I’m being shaken by a few mean comments, I think that would make them sad too. So I tell myself not to get sad, time is too precious. I try to control the negative thoughts like that.

— Chaeryeong

4. Park Hyungsik (ZE:A)

In an episode of Healing Camp, ZE:A’s Hyungsik revealed that he was bullied during his trainee days. The reason he got bullied was that he was close to the manager who cast him, and the other trainees didn’t like this.

When I was under a different company, I was hurt by other people. I have an open mind and I try not to hurt others. I was close with the manager who cast me, and to the other trainees, it seems like I was sucking up. At some point, they stopped eating meals with me and even stopped speaking to me. So then I thought that instead of being aware of others, I should just focus on doing well myself. At the time, I was 17 years old and a freshman in high school. I suffered from depression.

— Hyungsik

It wasn’t until Hyungsik switched companies that he started getting shown warmth from other trainees.

After coming into the company (Star Empire Entertainment), I continued to practice on my own and singing ballad songs, but the leader would ask me ‘Why are you alone,’ they continued to take care of me so my mood brightened up and I began to think very fondly of my hyungs.

— Hyungsik

5. IU

While IU is one of the most popular idols in K-Pop, her journey getting to this point was a difficult one. The List took a brief look at IU’s journey and found a lot of heartbreaking details. When IU was young, her family fell into debt. IU and her younger brother soon had to move and live with their grandmother. While their grandmother did her best to provide for the two, they struggled financially.

| 디글 클래식 :Diggle Classic/YouTube

IU then decided to pursue her dream of becoming a singer. However, she failed over 20 auditions. Not only that, but IU also once got scammed, as one of the companies she auditioned for disappeared.

| 디글 클래식 :Diggle Classic/YouTube

IU’s grandmother’s house soon got infested with cockroaches, and she had to move and live with her relatives. These relatives criticized and mocked IU’s dream of becoming a singer.