5+ K-Pop Idols Who Ran Into Heartbreaking Situations Before They Debuted

There are plenty of K-Pop idols who had to deal with heartbreaking situations before they debuted, whether it be due to things like their companies, obsessive fans, malicious netizens, etc. Here are 5+ K-Pop idols who ran into heartbreaking situations before they debuted.

1. The ENHYPEN members

ENHYPEN was formed through the survival show I-LAND, and they accumulated a huge fanbase before they even debuted. However, the group ran into a heartbreaking situation recently. When ENHYPEN went to the Gimpo Airport in Seoul, they were mobbed by a bunch of sasaeng fans.

Many fans were upset by this and noted how the members appeared scared.

2. RM (BTS)

When BTS guested on I-LAND, RM revealed that he ran away from Big Hit Entertainment 6 months before he was set to debut in BTS.

RM even considered giving up on his idol dreams. However, he then met with his father, who convinced him to go back to Big Hit Entertainment.

RM’s father spent hours convincing RM to go back and that he would regret his decision later in life if he didn’t go back. After listening to his father’s words, RM went back to Big Hit Entertainment.

3. Jihyo (TWICE)

During an episode of Carefree Travellers, Jihyo revealed that she almost gave up on her idol dreams when she was a trainee. She shared that there was a group she was supposed to debut in, but this group ended up disbanding. After this happened, Jihyo thought about quitting.

Right before I debuted, I wanted to quit. Before TWICE, there was this team that I was a part of. When that team disbanded, I just wanted to give up.

— TWICE’s Jihyo

Thankfully, Jihyo was given another chance to debut through SIXTEEN, which is the show that created TWICE.

4. The MAMAMOO members

Before MAMAMOO debuted, there were a lot of people who doubted them and thought that they would fail. The reason why was because people didn’t think that they had the visuals to succeed in the K-Pop industry.

It was hard before our debut. Since we weren’t visually perfect, many people said, ‘Those girls won’t make it’ and ‘You guys have to put on perfect performances or you’ll be done for’.

— MAMAMOO’s Solar

CEOs of other agencies even thought that the members would fail.

Before our debut, our CEO introduced us to outside connections. They all said, ‘They’re going to flop because they’re short and don’t look like idols.’

— MAMAMOO’s Solar

Composer Kim Do Hoon also shared in an interview that member Hwasa received a lot of criticism due to her appearance.

The truth is, before their debut when they were trainees, people looked at Hwasa and said, ‘She’ll cause a lot of trouble later on.’ That’s how much she stood out. There was a lot of external pressure while selecting MAMAMOO members.

— Kim Do Hoon

However, MAMAMOO ended up proving these people wrong as they went on to become one of the most popular girl groups in K-Pop!

5. Chaeryeong (ITZY)

Chaeryeong was revealed to the public before she debuted in ITZY, as she appeared on multiple survival shows, such as K-Pop Star 3 and SIXTEEN.

However, Chaeryeong recently revealed that she dealt with a lot of malicious netizens from a young age. Even when Chaeryeong got told that she would debuting as a member of ITZY, she didn’t feel joy 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.

— ITZY’s Chaeryeong

Thankfully, Chaeryeong is now doing her best to not get bothered by these malicious netizens.

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.

— ITZY’s Chaeryeong