Lee Chaeyeon Exposes What Her Mentality Is Actually Like When Competing On Survival Shows

Lee Chaeyeon is no stranger to competing in survival shows. The talented idol first appeared as a contestant on K-Pop Star 3 with ITZY‘s Chaeryeong in 2013.

Although both Chaeyeon and Chaeryeong were eliminated from K-Pop Star 3, the two became JYP Entertainment trainees. They later went on to compete in JYP Entertainment’s survival show SIXTEEN, which formed the girl group TWICE.

Neither Chaeyeon nor Chaeryeong made the final lineup for TWICE, and while Chaeryeong stayed with JYP Entertainment to later debut with ITZY, Chaeyeon became a trainee under WM Entertainment.

In 2018, Chaeyeon competed on another survival show, Mnet‘s Produce 48, and after stunning viewers with her incredible skills, she finally achieved her debut as a member of IZ*ONE.

After IZ*ONE’s disbandment in 2021, Chaeyeon returned to WM Entertainment as fans eagerly awaited any news of her highly anticipated return as an idol. In an unexpected turn of events, before returning as an idol, Chaeyeon first appeared on another survival show, Mnet’s Street Woman Fighter.

Although there are always difficult struggles that come with competing on a survival show, especially when trainees are trying to achieve their debut, Street Woman Fighter was especially challenging for Chaeyeon, the only idol participant among professional dancers.

I had a lot of regrets. I thought to myself, ‘Am I allowed to be here?‘ all the time. It was such an honor to be able to compete with such talented dancers, but I developed a bit of trauma after competing in so many battles in the first episode. It was especially hard for me because I felt bad for my unnies.

— Lee Chaeyeon

Recently Lee Chaeyeon made her solo debut with “HUSH RUSH” and, as part of her promotions, went on Apink Bomi‘s Let’s Eat Together Today. During the show, Bomi brought up how difficult it must be to compete on survival shows, marveling at Chaeyeon having competed in four different ones.

Bomi: Audition programs can be brutal to appear on, how many have you been on? K-Pop Star, SIXTEEN, Produce 48, Street Woman Fighter.

And when asked why she was willing to appear on so many of these brutal shows, Chaeyeon shockingly attributed it all to “chance.”

Bomi: What made you want to appear on all of them?

Lee Chaeyeon: I just happened to go on all of them by chance…

Of course, Bomi acknowledged Chaeyeon’s nonchalant attitude as being a “strong mentality,” to which Chaeyeon argued that she has a much stronger mentality than people think.

Bomi: That’s strong mentality.

Lee Chaeyeon: I do have strong mentality, but not many people think so.

Bomi: Why?

In every survival show, editing revolves around dramatic moments and high emotions to create entertaining content. So even if a contestant is peaceful or confident throughout most of the filming, editing tends to focus on the few times they are not. Which is exactly Chaeyeon’s experience as she admits that she seems “weak” because she’s “often shown crying.” Still, the idol points out that even though she understandably cries during the exhausting and grueling moments, she still clearly has a strong mentality just for choosing to appear on the shows.

Lee Chaeyeon: I was often shown crying on broadcasts. So some people think I’m mentally weak, but how would I appear on four shows if I was weak?

Bomi: She’s definitely not mentally weak! Don’t say that at all! All the haters have never even tried. It makes me so angry.