5 K-Pop Idols Who Nearly Got Kicked Out Of Their Company When They Were Trainees

K-Pop companies are quite strict with their trainees and have no problem kicking out certain trainees if they don’t meet their expectations. That’s what almost happened to these 5 idols, as they were nearly kicked out of their company when they were trainees.

1. Jimin (BTS)

Jimin has revealed in the past that he was almost kicked off of BTS’s lineup multiple times when he was a trainee. There were even some people at Big Hit Entertainment who opposed him joining the group.

(I can’t say their names) but there were a lot of people who opposed me (joining the team).

— BTS’s Jimin

The main reason for this was because Jimin’s dancing style was completely different from the style that K-Pop idols usually do, so he had a tough time adjusting.

I majored in contemporary dance. Since the style of dancing was totally different than the choreography of an idol group, it became a difficult challenge for me.

— BTS’s Jimin

2. Heechul (Super Junior) 

During an episode of Happy Together, Heechul shared that he almost got kicked out of SM Entertainment when he was a trainee. It began when his trainer scolded him for listening to rock music, and for not listening to the type of music that he was supposed to be studying. Heechul ended up giving an arrogant response to his trainer.

Heechul ended up getting scolded by his trainer and was asked to write an apology letter.

Though, Heechul didn’t feel so apologetic, so he wrote a cheeky apology letter.

Heechul ended up getting sent home due to his attitude and was suspended from the training program. The only reason he returned was that Lee Soo Man had noticed that Heechul wasn’t around the company, and asked where he was.

Here is the full video below!

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3. Seolhyun (AOA)

When she was a trainee, Seolhyun once decided to skip vocal and dance lessons to watch the movie Kungfu Panda 2 along with some other trainees. She ran into trouble when she bumped into the head of their company at the movie theater. As punishment, the company head had all the trainees leave the company. However, the company ended up calling all the trainees back a few days later.

4. P.O (Block B)

Block B’s P.O and WINNER‘s Mino have been friends for nearly their entire lives, and even once trained together under the same company.

When they were training together under the same company, they ran into a heartbreaking situation when the company decided to drop P.O as a trainee but keep Mino. However, when they were given the news, Mino didn’t want to accept it.

Rhymer was the CEO back then. He sat us both down and told me, ‘You don’t need to come to train anymore starting tomorrow.’ But told Mino, ‘You can keep training.’

I thought that was the end for me and accepted it. But Mino said, ‘Then I will quit too.’

— P.O

P.O eventually convinced Mino to stay at the company, and to not sacrifice his spot as a trainee. Thus, Mino went back to training without P.O. However, P.O did eventually return to the company after he had lost some weight and trained his skills more.

Although the two ultimately never debuted in the same group, they are still friends to this day and are enjoying success in their respective groups.

5. Lay (EXO)

This one is just a rumor, but it’s rumored that Lay was allegedly kicked out of SM Entertainment when he was a trainee.

Lay of EXO was kicked out as a trainee for starting a fight with another trainee over a bowl of rice. After a long day of training, Lay was famished and saw a bowl of rice on the table. He dug in hurriedly, and another trainee was angry when he saw Lay eating the meal that he prepared. Both trainee were so tired and hungry that they exchanged heated words and fought. SM caught news of this incident and sent Lay packing back into China. Lay was very saddened and had a self reflection, and he thought about how his hard work was going down the drain. SM later gave him another chance and he’s been working hard to prove himself ever since.

—Man Du, K-Pop Fan

While there’s no official clip of Lay ever admitting to this, he has spoken on his tough trainee experience many times.

When I debuted… Because maybe not many people paid attention, after I had time to learn more skills, to practice. Practice can be all night until I felt good in my heart. This is the best you can do. Do the things you like to the upmost, do it for yourself and for the world who is doubting you.

— Lay

Source: Koreaboo