Former INFINITE Member Hoya Spills On Why He Often Got Scolded As A Trainee
Hoya (also known as Lee Ho Won) is a solo artist who appears in musicals and dramas. He’s also part of the dance crew MBITIOUS and appeared on the show Street Man Fighter.
Before venturing out on his own, Hoya was a member of Woollim Entertainment‘s boy group INFINITE until leaving in 2017 after seven years as an idol. Since departing the group, he’s spoken about how restricting idol life was. He recently shared how those restrictions started as a trainee.
I felt like I was just a puppet. I couldn’t even speak my own thoughts. I felt like my only job was to sing, dance and look pretty.
— Hoya
Hoya appeared on an episode of the Get Real podcast to discuss his current life and family. When talking about growing up in Changwon and Busan, the hosts pointed out that Hoya doesn’t have an accent when speaking.
Hoya shocked the hosts Ladies’ Code‘s Ashley Choi and BTOB‘s Peniel by revealing that he got rid of his Busan accent in a few months.
But I changed my accent very fast. Usually, men have a harder time changing their accents. It took me three months?
— Hoya
He had to do so because Woollim Entertainment wanted him to speak the Seoul dialect and scolded Hoya for doing otherwise. He said, “I got scolded a lot for it when I was a trainee. Told me not to speak in the dialect.”
Fortunately for newer K-Pop idols, companies aren’t as strict about speaking the Seoul dialect because accents have become “charming these days.” Now Hoya can speak whichever dialect he wants.
