7 Random Facts About Red Velvet's Vocal Goddess Wendy That Everyone Should Know

In December last year, Wendy terrified fans when the news released that she had been seriously injured during a rehearsal and had to be taken to the hospital, where she ended up staying for an extensive period of time. Almost a year later, the Red Velvet vocalist has yet to rejoin the K-Pop industry, and both hardcore fans of the group as well as K-Pop fans in general hope that she’s able to make her comeback soon!

Wendy is often regarded as one of the strongest and most talented female vocalists in K-Pop, which makes it even more upsetting that she had to take such a long break from singing. Whether you’re already a fan of Wendy or just want to get to know more about this beautiful, talented idol, these 7 facts should be of interest to you!

1. The meaning behind her name.

Wendy’s Korean name is actually Son Seungwan. However, her father was the one who gave her the name Wendy! The meaning behind this name is “a friend who helps”, so maybe he was hoping she would grow up to be a helpful person to those she cares about. It seems like it became reality!

2. She’s incredibly smart.

Despite moving between the U.S. and Canada several times in her childhood years, Wendy was great at academics. In fact, in high school, she won 5th place out of 1600 students in a math contest while she lived in Minnesota! She was also an honors student every semester, and even won the Outstanding Academic Excellence award from President Obama‘s President’s Education Award Program in 2009, which is a huge honor.

3. She’s been a talented singer for a long time.

Wendy seems to have been born with natural singing talent! She was the main soprano in her school’s choir when she was younger, and also won numerous musical awards during her school years because of her skills. She also posted many videos of herself singing online while she was studying abroad.

4. She didn’t get into the first K-Pop company she applied for.

The first company that Wendy actually applied for was Cube Entertainment when they had global auditions in Vancouver in 2011. Though she was able to get down to the 14 finalists line-up, she wasn’t chosen to join the company! Fortunately, she applied for SM Entertainment‘s global audition in Toronto the following year and was able to become a trainee with them.

5. She struggled a lot as a trainee.

Even though her training period with SM Entertainment was only a year and a half long, which is pretty short for their company, Wendy still had a hard time. She was pressured to lose weight before she debuted, and had to follow and incredibly strict diet because of it. She even got in trouble for eating a tiny bit of sugar-free cake her mom sent her all the way from Canada, which is ridiculous! She did end up losing 15kg (about 33lbs), which must have been incredibly stressful and difficult.

6. No one has anything bad to say about her.

Wendy seems to be a genuinely kind, giving person, and even has the nickname “Mother Wenresa” because of how much she takes care of her fellow members. It’s said that people around Wendy have nothing bad to say about her, and she often compliments others and generally makes people feel better about themselves! Who wouldn’t want a friend like Wendy?

7. However, she also has another strong personality trait!

Though Wendy can be a quiet person, apparently once she starts talking, she won’t stop! She’s considered both the comedian and the chatterbox of Red Velvet, which is adorable and definitely seems to suit her personality.