“Thinking of Quitting Showbiz…” Super Junior Revealed As Another ‘Star King’ Victim

On the 10th, in the new episode of ‘Donor Hyung’ uploaded on Shin Dong-yeop’s YouTube channel, Donghae and Eunhyuk, members of Super Junior, recalled their early days as rookies and their harsh experience at the variety show “Star King.”

Having debuted 19 years ago, Donghae and Eunhyuk have been active as the ‘D&E’ unit for 13 years. Shin Dong-yup recalled, “I’ve known Donghae since before his debut, and he was shy back then,” joking that “his first variety show was ‘Star King,’ which was notoriously tough even among celebrities.”

Donghae revealed, “Besides ‘Star King,’ within our group, there was the ‘Big Four’ – Siwon, Heechul, Kibum, and then me, who was also pushed into variety shows. But I always got edited out, and I felt discouraged. My personality didn’t fit, so I even went to the company’s office to talk about it.” He added, “I even said I didn’t want to be a celebrity anymore. It was too hard to make eye contact and ask guests questions. I was afraid I wouldn’t do well, so I avoided Kang Ho-dong’s gaze and said I just wanted to stick to being a singer.”

Eunhyuk chimed in, “Back then, there were many ‘victims’ of ‘Star King,’ though some benefited from it. For me, it was a mixed bag. I learned a lot about variety shows but also found it incredibly tough.” He reminisced about grueling recording sessions, saying, “We filmed on Mondays, and since Kang Ho-dong was in great health, we would shoot from morning until dawn. After a Sunday night concert and taking a flight, I’d go straight into hair and makeup for ‘Star King,’ exhausted.”

Once filming started, Eunhyuk would be alert, especially when “Ho-dong would introduce me, saying, ‘We have Eunhyuk on Star King,’ and I’d have to perform something. You had to be funny, but not too good at what you did. Every time I heard ‘Eunhyuk-ssi,’ I got anxious,” he shared, recalling the pressure of being the show’s main performer.

Eunhyuk also mentioned working with Shin Dong-yup on another show, ‘Explorers of the Human Body,’ saying, “The Super Junior members were like lab rats in that show. We were rookies, and Shin Dong-yup was amazing. It’s hard to bring out the best in everyone, but he did it all by himself. We’re still thankful to him to this day,” ending the story on a heartwarming note.

Source: OSEN