When you're a fan of a K-Pop group, it's hard to imagine having one or two members not being part. However, many K-Pop trainees end up being kicked out of the debut lineup or never get included at all. These K-Pop idols were originally not meant to debut with their group but ended up taking the stage.
1. GOT7's Bambam
Back in 2017, Bambam revealed that he was not part of the line-up for GOT7, and the group was originally meant to debut as six members. He had wanted to debut with the group so badly due to his close friendship with Jackson and Mark. During the appearance of JYP Entertainment trainees in the YG Entertainment survival show "WIN: Who is Next?", Bambam had appeared with members Yugyeom, Jackson, and Mark as a dance quartet, proving his skills despite being in the "kids" group of JYP Entertainment trainees.
During the competition between YG and JYP trainees, Bambam was praised by Yang Hyun Suk for his dance skills. After hearing the compliment, Park Jin Young decided to include Bambam into the debut lineup of GOT7.
2. TWICE's Chaeyoung
Before there was TWICE, there was 6MIX, a pre-debut girl group that consisted of current TWICE members Jihyo, Jeongyeon, Nayeon, and Sana, alongside other JYP Entertainment trainees. The group was so close to debut, they had even filmed teasers already! However, due to numerous line-up changes, the group was ultimately scrapped.
At the time, Chaeyoung, along with Tzuyu and Dahyun, was part of a younger group of JYP Entertainment trainees. The group was meant to be debut years after 6MIX. However, after the aforementioned group's disbandment, JYP Entertainment decided to create the survival show "SIXTEEN", and Chaeyoung successfully made it to the debut line-up, thus debuting with TWICE.
Had "SIXTEEN" never happened, Chaeyoung could have debuted with ITZY instead.
3. BTS's J-Hope
During an episode of "Burn the Stage", BTS member J-Hope revealed he dropped out from BTS's lineup right before their debut. When he told the members he was leaving, maknae Jungkook started crying, and the two shed tears as they hugged each other. RM decided to take matters into his own hands and went straight to Big Hit Entertainment's management, saying the group needed J-Hope in their debut lineup. He said that they needed Jung Hoseok (J-Hope's real name) and that they won't be able to make it without him. In the end, J-Hope chose to return to the group because he trusted his members.
4. BTS's Jimin
According to Jimin, he has been removed from the BTS lineup on multiple occasions, including the day before their debut! Despite his short training period, the idol revealed that he was kicked out of the group eight times! He went on to say that though he cannot name them, numerous people in Big Hit Entertainment had opposed him joining the group.
Jimin claimed it's because he was not a good dancer as a trainee. This shocked fans, as Jimin has been praised numerous times for his dance skills and is even one of the group's main dancers. He revealed that he had a hard time adapting to BTS's choreography due to his background in dance; he had majored in contemporary dance and was unused to the dance style used by idols. Because of this, he nearly didn't debut with BTS.
5. BIGBANG's G-Dragon and Taeyang
Originally, G-Dragon and Taeyang were originally supposed to debut as a duo. Yang Hyun Suk ended up scrapping the plans for their debut and told the two that they were going to be debuting with other members to create an idol group. When G-Dragon heard this, he was enraged, as he had wanted to debut in a duo instead of a group. He said, "Why do I have to debut with them? I've been practicing with Taeyang for six years. What is this?"
At the time, he had wanted to quit the group. However, he stayed but ended up being cold towards the new members, as revealed by Daesung. Taeyang was initially hesitant as well and had considered quitting, but ended up warming up to the other members faster than G-Dragon and sticking with the group.
G-Dragon ended up coming around and grew close to the BIGBANG members. In the end, he debuted as their leader.
G-Dragon and Taeyang would end up debuting as a duo year later as GD X Taeyang or GDYB in 2014 with the song "Good Boy."
7. 2NE1's Park Bom
During Park Bom's appearance on "Queendom", she revealed she was originally meant to debut as a soloist in 2007 or 2008. However, after damaging her throat due to too much practice, she was unable to debut as a soloist. Yang Hyun Suk decided not to waste her talent and added her to the lineup of 2NE1 after she recovered.
Her debut song was meant to be "Scarecrow", produced by Park Jinyoung for her, and she had even filmed a music video for it. However, as she did not debut as a soloist, the song was ultimately passed on to Lee Hi.
