Singer Jeon Somi has shared candid memories from her time competing on Mnet’s Produce 101, revealing that one of the hardest parts of the experience was being separated from her family at just 15 years old.

Appearing alongside fellow I.O.I member Chungha on the YouTube program Psick Show, Somi looked back on the intense filming process and life inside the show’s training camp.

When asked whether she had any particularly good or bad memories from Produce 101, Somi immediately recalled one frustrating experience.

She explained that contestants packed large suitcases because they expected to wear their own clothes during the two-month training period. “I think we all had the same complaint we packed way too many clothes. We filled two suitcases because we were going to stay there for two months, but I ended up wearing just one outfit the whole time. I never got to wear the clothes I brought.”

However, what affected her even more was having to surrender her phone upon arrival. “They took away our phones. I was only 15 years old. I wanted to call my mom and tell her, ‘Mom, I’m going to Paju English Village,’ but I couldn’t.”

Instead, she recalled staff simply instructing the trainees to hand over their belongings before moving them to the filming location. “They told us, ‘Turn in all your belongings and go over there.’ I remember seeing this huge pyramid-like building and thinking, ‘I want to call my mom.’ Then we were taken somewhere else. We drove through the mountains and arrived at this kind of eerie place. They told us, ‘This is your room.'”

Somi also revealed that one of the cameramen from Produce 101 has since joined her current company’s video production team. She recently had the opportunity to reminisce with him about the survival show. “I asked him if filming Produce 101 had been difficult. He told me they were up all night filming us and even nodded off while shooting interviews.”

Laughing, she added that she encouraged him to appear on a broadcast someday and tell viewers what it was really like behind the scenes.

Chungha agreed that the production team endured just as much as the contestants. She explained that with 101 trainees, staff members had to conduct countless interviews while building storylines for every participant. “Honestly, it was a survival program for the production staff too. They had to interview all 101 trainees and keep asking questions until they got usable answers, while we were exhausted and falling asleep.” Her comments highlighted the enormous workload faced by both contestants and crew during the filming of one of K-pop’s most influential survival programs.

Produce 101 launched the careers of many successful artists, including Jeon Somi and Chungha, who both debuted as members of the project girl group I.O.I in 2016.

While the program ultimately changed their lives, Somi’s latest comments offer fans a rare glimpse into the physical and emotional challenges contestants experienced behind the cameras, especially for trainees who entered the competition at such a young age.

Sources: Daum | 뉴스엔