Jihyo from TWICE recently shared that she was once a trainee at SM Entertainment, surprising Hyoyeon.
On July 31, the 'Hyoyeon’s Level Up' channel featured Jihyo in the episode 'Senior Hyoyeon Who Treats You Well' (Episode 7). During the show, Hyoyeon praised Jihyo’s solo album, saying, “Your album was fantastic. You must have worked really hard. It’s impressive, especially since you trained longer than I did. I was a trainee for 7 years, but you trained even longer. Even as a solo artist, it’s clear you haven’t lost your touch.”
Jihyo thanked Hyoyeon and shared, “I’m really grateful for this feedback. I don’t usually get this kind of response. The company usually just says everything is fine and focuses on results. I felt proud doing my best.”
Jihyo also revealed, “I trained at JYP for 10 years. During a Naver child star competition, JYP officials saw me and cast me. But before that, I was a trainee at SM for a year. This is the first time I’m mentioning it.”
She reminisced, “Some seniors from Girls' Generation were really nice to me back then. I think it was Yoona. I remember comparing my face size with CDs because I was so small.”
Hyoyeon guessed it might have been Sooyoung and expressed regret, saying, “If you had stayed at SM, you might have joined Girls' Generation. It’s amazing to think about. I would have tried to keep you here if I had known.”
Hyoyeon continued, “It’s surprising that you were at SM. Even though it was just for a year, you could have been in the lineup. TWICE is doing great now, but it might have been interesting if you had stayed. You’re really talented.”
Hyoyeon also shared, “When we were trainees, we didn’t know if we’d make it. Even with 7 years of training, it was uncertain until the end when a member dropped out before debut.”
Jihyo explained the trainee system, saying, “There were preparatory and regular trainees. Some were preparatory and became regular trainees after passing basic choreography. Once you became a regular trainee, you got additional support for things like language and musical instruments.”
She added, “When we were grouped for debut, we practiced separately. I almost debuted in a 6-member group before TWICE. We even learned ‘I Got a Boy’.” Jihyo and Hyoyeon ended the show with a fun ‘I Got a Boy’ challenge video.
Source [1]
