Veteran handsome former announcer and television personality Choi Ki-hwan, 50, has revealed that he received an offer to become an actor from actor Bae Yong-joon when he successfully passed his recruitment test at SBS.
Choi recently appeared on "B-Class Hearing RE:BOOT", a content series by the YouTube channel "B-Class Studio", alongside fellow former SBS announcers Kim Il-joong, Kim Hwan, and Cho Jung-shik, where he shared behind-the-scenes stories of entering the broadcasting industry.
On the show, MC Nam Ho-yeon mentioned, "Being an announcer wasn't your original dream, and you were even cast as an actor when you were a college student. I heard people often told you that you looked like Aaron Kwok and Jang Dong-gun."
Choi began by saying, "It was before Bae Yong-joon became a hallyu star with 'Yon-sama'. At the time, we were playing StarCraft together, and that was when I coincidentally received the phone call about passing the SBS announcer test."
He continued, bringing laughter to everyone by revealing, "When I answered 'What phone call is that?' after Bae Yong-joon asked, and told him 'I passed SBS,' he suggested, 'Don't do that, why don't you join our company instead?'" He recalled, "At the time, Bae Yong-joon had not yet started running his own agency directly. I think he wanted to nurture me as an actor. For a split second, I really agonized over it. It was one of the biggest crossroads of my life."
When Cho Jung-shik asked, "How did you become close with Bae Yong-joon?", Choi revealed an unexpected connection.
He explained, "We didn't play games at a PC bang, but at a hair salon. There were two computers in the director's office, and I was close with the director while Bae Yong-joon was also a regular customer. We enjoyed playing StarCraft together in the director's office. We were on the same team, and he kept telling me 'Attack 12 o'clock,' so we were attacking together. He could have felt upset when I had to leave the game to take a phone call, but after hearing the news that I passed, he encouraged me to try acting instead."
In response, Kim Il-joong joked, "So when he said 'Come to our side,' was he talking about a company or telling you to come to 12 o'clock in the game?", turning the set into a sea of laughter.
Choi joined SBS as part of the 11th open recruitment batch of announcers in 2003, hosting various programs such as "Live Today", "Good Morning", and "Access! Movie World", earning the nickname "Hallyu Handsome Announcer" for his warm visual appeal. After leaving SBS in 2021, he transitioned to a freelance career and is currently active under Line Entertainment while also serving as the CEO of Bomon Announcer Academy.
(SBS Star News, Reporter Kang Kyung-yoon)
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