K-Pop idols have an image to maintain, and in doing so, it becomes quite hard to be vulnerable and honest on camera about their feelings.
Opening up is hard, especially in the public eye, and even ordinary people have trouble doing that, so how much harder would it be for idols that have the whole world watching their every move to open up and be vulnerable. It requires a certain degree of comfort as well as confidence on the part of these idols to be able to be honest about their feelings, knowing full well that their entire career is at stake.
An important thing to notice here would be the fact that idols that do open up can do so because of their unwavering faith in their fans. The fact that fans would love and support them no matter what gives them the sense of comfort in opening up and letting their fans know what goes on in their mind and what they may be struggling with.
Therefore, it figures that fans understand that when their idols come forward about something that might be deemed shocking or controversial or even scandalous, they're doing so because they believe they can do so in front of their fans, almost as if they were a form of family that could never turn on them. Such a beautiful dynamic between artists and fans is truly enviable and one to strive for.
So if your favorite idol made it on this list, pat yourselves on the back for being the support system they desperately needed and sought throughout their creative journey.
1. BTS
At the 2018 MAMA in Hong Kong, BTS tearfully revealed that the group almost disbanded earlier that year or at least thought of separating. During the Break the Silence Docu-Series, it was revealed that the song Outro: Tear was inspired by discussions of BTS disbanding. The members were going through immense stress and pressure mentally and even discussed retirement with the 7 of them going their separate ways. The song was thus made by the members and for the members, and they even cried together when they heard the song for the first time. For a group at the peak of their popularity, it must be tough and scary to put it out there in the universe that they contemplated disbanding. Still, they could do so because of the incredible support of ARMY.
Jimin confessed once that he thought he wouldn't be able to make the final cut for becoming a part of BTS because he didn't think his dancing skills were good enough. He majored in contemporary dance, which is quite different from the intense choreography that BTS usually goes for, so it took time for him to adjust, and we all know how that turned out. He's currently one of the most powerful and graceful dancers in the entire K-Pop industry. To think that he had thoughts of not being enough is heartbreaking.
2. BLACKPINK
In an episode of 24/365 with BLACKPINK, the members look back and reminisce on their days as trainees and how many hardships they had to go through. They were incredibly poor as trainees and did not even have enough food to eat at times. Most of the time, they would live off of eggs and strawberry jam, adding that they would eat scrambled eggs and strawberry jam at least once a day. What is even more heartbreaking is when they reveal that their dorm was infested with cockroaches and centipedes and centipedes of not even the normal size.
Whenever they tried to trap one with a cup, another one would appear right besides it. They all had to rely on Lisa, who would alone be able to catch them, after which they threw them out. Having come out of those conditions and still being able to flourish into one of the top Korean idol groups ever, Blackpink deserves all the fame and success in the world. Considering the strict standards of the Korean audience, such a revelation might sound ungrateful, but with the unparalleled support of BLINKs, they were able to open up like this.
3. HyunA and Dawn
After very true rumors of HyunA and Dawn were doing the rounds, Cube Entertainment shut those rumors down at once, asserting that the two were not, in fact, dating. However, not long after this statement, HyunA and Dawn themselves announced that they were dating and in love. This was not received very well by their company, who decided to immediately kick them out of the company, uprooting Dawn (then E'Dawn) from his group Pentagon and removing HyunA from their label.
This did not deter them from making music, however as they kept in touch with their fans through dance practice videos and other fun stuff until they both signed with P Nation, PSY's agency, which skyrocketed their success once more. This time they didn't even have to hide their love for the sake of their careers. Korean entertainment industry usually does not receive dating news very fondly, but for HyunA and Dawn, fans stuck by them through thick and thin.
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4. TWICE Jihyo
It is a well-known fact within the K-Pop industry that Jihyo is one of the most hardworking artists and a competent leader to one of Korea's biggest acts, TWICE. However, even Jihyo went through a hard time where she even thought about giving up on her dreams as the group she was initially a part of ended up disbanding. She revealed this on an episode of Carefree Travellers when she was asked if she missed anyone as she was traveling. Jihyo answered that having been a trainee for over ten years, she completely lost out on having a normal childhood, traveling with her parents as she was always rushing to training after school.
It was then that she revealed that she had even thought about disbanding. Luckily for her, SIXTEEN gave her another opportunity to debut, and she made the most of it, now becoming one of the most loved idols in the industry.
5. BTOB Peniel
One of the most personal moments of vulnerability came from BTOB's Peniel. On an episode of Hello Counselor, Peniel revealed that he did not feel the need to lie anymore and wanted everyone to know that he was suffering from alopecia. For a successful idol, part of such an incredible group like BTOB, which was also seeing its peak at the time, hair loss must have been a harrowing experience.
He probably thought his career was going to be over once he lost his hair. However, he mustered up the courage and revealed the news to his fans publicly on national television before showing everyone his shaven head. Even treatment would not have been able to do anything at that point as he had completely lost over 70% of his hair already. So he made the brave decision to shave off his head and come to his fans, completely honest, completely open. And it was received with all the love in the world.
