Lee Hong-ki Wins Gold on a Variety Show, Then Gets an Unfair “Equal Split” — “You Said You Didn’t Want to Do Variety Shows” (“Boss in the Mirror”)

[Sportschosun Reporter Jeong An-ji] F.T. Island’s Lee Hong-ki shared an anecdote about receiving gold as a prize for appearing on a variety show in the past, along with an awkward story involving his agency.

On the 13th, KBS 2TV’s “Boss in the Mirror” featured N.Flying leader Lee Seung-hyub appearing as the “K-band boss.” His senior, F.T. Island’s Lee Hong-ki, made a surprise visit to N.Flying’s practice room to support them.

That day, Lee Hong-ki recalled, “Aren’t you going on a nationwide tour? How much longer are you planning to keep getting more popular?” He continued, “We never went on a nationwide tour except when we were rookies. We were incredibly popular when we were rookies.” He then made everyone laugh by adding, “Back then, you couldn’t even compare with where you are now.”

N.Flying appeared on its first solo variety show as a full group, 11 years after debuting. Lee Hong-ki asked, “How did you end up doing a variety show? You’re not really the type to do variety shows, are you?” Lee Seung-hyub replied, “We’re making a comeback soon. I want to try all kinds of things,” adding, “I’m not confident going out alone, and I thought it would be fun if all the members did it together.” Yoo Hwe-seung, who was listening, joked, “I told you to go out alone,” prompting Lee Hong-ki to share his own experience.

Lee Hong-ki said, “The reason I was the only well-known member of F.T. Island was that I appeared on variety shows alone to promote F.T. Island.” He added, “Since I was the only one appearing, people only knew me. They didn’t really know the other members.”

He continued, “When I was young, there were so many variety shows that I did three a day,” recalling, “There were a lot of big talk shows. Variety shows back then even gave out gold as prizes.” Lee Hong-ki explained, “I won the ‘Happiness Ltd.’ challenge and received gold as the prize. But someone from the agency told me to divide the gold fairly among the members.” He then made everyone laugh by confessing, “I was so angry that when I gave the members their shares, I shouted, ‘Take it. You said you didn’t want to do variety shows.’”

anjee85@sportschosun.com

This article has been translated by GripLabs Mingo AI.