8 K-Pop Idols Who Considered Leaving Their Companies Right Before Their Debut
Being a K-Pop trainee isn’t easy, and some idols have shared that they considered leaving their companies right before their debut. Here are 8 of these idols.
1. Jihyo (TWICE)
In an episode of JTBC‘s Carefree Travellers, TWICE’s Jihyo revealed that she was close to giving up on becoming an idol.
Jihyo was a trainee for 10 years, and she missed out on many things because of this.
It makes me sad that I have no memories of my school days. I had to go straight to training after classes, so I was envious of friends going out to eat tteokbokki or hit a karaoke together after school.
— Jihyo
When asked if she ever considered quitting, she said that she did. The group Jihyo originally was supposed to debut in disbanded, which was tough for her.
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.
— Jihyo
Luckily for Jihyo, she got another chance to debut through the show SIXTEEN, which is the show that formed TWICE!
2. RM (BTS)
RM is a bit different from others on this list, as he did run away from his agency before his debut!
In an episode of Mnet‘s I-LAND, RM revealed that he ran away from Big Hit Music (BTS’s agency) 6 months before he was set to debut.
While he was away from the company, RM ended up meeting his father. RM’s father told him that he should go back to the company.
RM’s father spent several hours convincing him to go back and told him, “I know you want to be there (Big Hit Music), and you need to be there.” RM’s father also told RM that if he didn’t go back, then he would regret it in the future. RM ended up listening to his father and returned to Big Hit Music.
3. BM (KARD)
In Eric Nam‘s podcast K-Pop Daebak, KARD’s BM revealed that he tried to quit being a trainee right before his debut.
During BM’s last few months as a trainee, he was having a hard time. BM looked for something to blame, and he felt that he was having a tough time because he hadn’t debuted yet. BM approached the CEO of his agency and asked if he could leave. BM even offered to work side jobs so that he could pay her back for the training fees.
I straight up asked her, ‘Hey, can I leave? Can I pay you back for the training fees?’
— BM
The CEO told BM to give her some time. Not long after this, the CEO put BM in KARD, and he debuted!
BM remembers how happy he was when he debuted.
It’s a start, but it’s the start I’ve been waiting for, you know? So, it was good, you know, at the time I would look at my members and be like, ‘This is the real turning point in our lives, this is where we really start writing our legacy. So, I’ll never forget that day. It was awesome. I finally made it….’
— BM
4. ITZY
In an episode of SBS‘s Tikita CAR, ITZY spoke about how tough their trainee days were. Kim Gu Ra, one of the show’s hosts, asked the members if they ever considered leaving JYP Entertainment (ITZY’s agency).
Have you all ever thought about making your own music after saving up some money… since it’s so incredibly hard to debut and stuff?
— Kim Gu Ra
The members then honestly shared that before their debut, they thought about leaving the company together!
Let’s all walk out hand in hand together! Oh, we had tons of plans.
— Chaeryeong
One of the things the members thought about doing if they went through with this was becoming YouTubers! They also believed that if they left together, then an agency might pick them up. The members ultimately didn’t go through with this, and they laughed a little while looking back.
And we would put out contents that are catered to our viewers. We also said if we leave as a group, maybe another agency will try to scoop us up. Let’s pick a place that will debut us ASAP.
— Chaeryeong
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