Heo Chan-mi Reveals She Was a Victim of “Evil Editing” and Even Wrote a Will
On March 24, a deeply emotional interview featuring singer Heo Chan-mi was uploaded on the Make Us New CBS YouTube channel, titled “If You Feel Abandoned by the World and God, Please Watch! | Singer Heo Chanmi.”
In the video, Heo Chan-mi spoke candidly about her painful past as a contestant on Mnet’s “Produce 101” in 2016. “At first, I received a lot of attention,” she said. “Since I had already debuted, I stood out among the trainees.”
However, she soon faced challenges. “Before filming, I strained my vocal cords and ended up with vocal nodules,” she recalled. “I struggled with high notes and offered to give up the main part, but my teammates insisted I sing it. On stage, my vocal cords couldn’t hold up, and my voice cracked.”
But what aired on TV told a different story.“The broadcast made it seem like I was greedy and took the main part only to mess it up,” she shared.
She also revealed that malicious editing led to a controversy over her personality. “When I first entered the show, I greeted all 100 trainees, and many recognized me and greeted me back. However, the broadcast cut out my greeting, making it seem like I ignored everyone.” As a result, her name became associated with “Heo Chanmi personality controversy” in online searches.
The backlash was severe. “People sent me messages saying, ‘Watch out at night. If I see you, I’ll kill you.’ I was too afraid to go outside,” she recalled.
As the hate worsened, she developed social anxiety and became reclusive. “I couldn’t leave my room for 5–6 months. I blocked out all the light, stopped eating. My parents were so worried, they checked on me every 20–30 minutes,” she said.
“I didn’t have the will to live. I looked up how to end my life and even wrote a will to upload on my personal channel.”
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Host Joo Young-hoon comforted her, saying, “Thank you for holding on through all of it.”
Despite everything, Heo Chan-mi persevered in her music career. After debuting in 2010 with co-ed idol group Co-Ed School, she appeared on multiple survival programs including MixNine and Miss Trot 2. She finished 11th on Miss Trot 2 and is now pursuing her career as a trot singer.
Heo Chan-mi, born in 1992, began her journey in the entertainment industry as a trainee under SM Entertainment, where she trained alongside future members of Girls’ Generation and f(x), though she ultimately did not debut with them. In 2010, she joined MBK Entertainment and debuted in the co-ed idol group Co-Ed School, which later disbanded.
The following year, she promoted as part of the subgroup F-ve Dolls but eventually left the team. Despite numerous setbacks, she continued to chase her dreams, participating in audition programs such as Produce 101 (2016) and MixNine (2017), but was eliminated in both. In 2018, she joined the girl group project High Color under Duble Sidekick, though the group’s debut plans were scrapped. In 2020, she signed with First One Entertainment and finally made her official solo debut, continuing her career as a singer with unwavering passion.
