IRENE of K-pop girl group Red Velvet shared her debut story, including the time when she cried her eyes out after failing the final round of SM Entertainment's audition.
On November 30, IRENE appeared as guest on comedian Kim Dae-hee's YouTube show "Kkondaehee."
During a conversation with Kim Dae-hee, IRENE was asked how she ended up debuting as part of Red Velvet under SM Entertainment.
IRENE revealed, "I'm one of those cases where I went to an audition with a friend and ended up being the one who passed."
The K-pop star explained, "My friend wanted to make a K-pop debut but felt awkward going to the audition alone, so they asked me to go with them. As we went through the process, I made it to the finals, but my friend was eliminated earlier."
She continued, "I quite shy and quiet, but back in school, I always participated in talent shows. I found singing and dancing to be a lot of fun. So, I made it to the finals of that audition but didn't make it. I cried my eyes out afterward. It was at the audition site as well. That's when I realized, 'I thought I was just doing this for fun, but I actually like this a lot and really want to make it my career.'"
IRENE went on to share, "Even though I didn't pass the audition, I kept in touch with SM Entertainment after that. And eventually, I became their trainee. I was 19 years old when I started training. I trained for five years after the audition before debuting with Red Velvet."
Born in March 1991, IRENE began her career as the leader of Red Velvet in August 2014.
She recently released her first solo album in 10 years.
(Credit= '꼰대희' YouTube, SM Entertainment)