Jung Dong Su and Kim Nam Hyung from Produce 101 Season 2 sat down for an interview where they opened up about the controversy of manipulated votes and rigged rankings in the survival audition series.
Kim Nam Hyung revealed that he’s often asked whether he knew that the series was rigged while he was filming for the show. He confessed that he hates getting asked the question, but he wasn’t surprised to find out it was rigged in the first place and the majority of the trainees would agree.
I usually get asked whether I knew what was going on, and a lot of people pitied me. Getting those reactions is uncomfortable to me.
When the controversy broke, I honestly wasn’t that surprised. I think a majority of the trainees all felt the same way.
— Kim Nam Hyung
Jung Dong Su revealed one of the biggest clues that led him to speculate that the show wasn’t as fair as they were marketing it. He explained that there were times when the producers would edit what actually happened to highlight a certain trainee and completely edit out another trainee who deserved the same recognition.
There was a time when two trainees taught others how to dance, but they edited the show to make it seem like only one of them was teaching.
So it made it seem like other trainee did nothing on the show. The viewers would look at the one teaching fondly and vote for him, but the other trainee wouldn’t get acknowledged.
That really made me feel that there was something going on.
— Jung Dong Su
Kim Nam Hyung emphasized that every trainee and viewer of the show are victims of the manipulated rankings. He only hopes the ones responsible face the consequences and end the controversy.
I think all of the trainees – no matter if they debuted or not – are victims. I also think the viewers are victims.
I just hope everything will be resolved well and come to an end.
— Kim Nam Hyung
Jung Dong Su looked back on everyone who went out of their way to help him rise up in the ranks and how all of their efforts were destroyed by the scandal.
All I could think about at that moment were everyone who voted for me – my family, my friends, and everyone who probably put aside their pride and went around to ask everyone to vote for me.
I got cut at 36th place, which was just one rank shy of moving on. I cried that day and my family all cried while watching too. I was frustrated thinking back on it.
— Jung Dong Su
Jung Dong Su was eliminated from the show at 36th place, while Kim Nam Hyung was eliminated earlier at 52nd place. Both are continuing to pursue their love for music as indie artists.
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