Celebrity

Ji Hyo ‘challenges’ the stereotype of skinny idols: ‘I earn money to eat well’

The leader of Twice said that she does not need to have a slim body to meet the beauty standard of the majority.

Recently, Ji Hyo (Twice) has drawn great attention when appearing on the cover of Allure magazine in May. She did a special interview on the occasion of her 15th anniversary with JYP. Ji Hyo is one of the idols with the longest trainee period as she entered JYP at the age of 8. Now she has turned 23 and became the leader of one of the top groups of Kpop. She shared her frank and sincere thoughts about the challenges and the life of an idol after 5 years of debut.

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Ji Hyo on the cover of Allure.

Ji Hyo said she was chosen to be the leader of Twice after a secret vote after the show Sixteen (2015). As a leader, Ji Hyo is in charge of preparing meals for the members, participating in choreographing and taking care of the routines in the dorm.

Especially, Ji Hyo also shared about the weight problem, which made her criticized for a long time when she debuted. “I don’t really starve myself, but I used to have a hard time keeping a certain weight,” Ji Hyo said. However, now Ji Hyo feels that she doesn’t have to fit into an ‘unrealistic’ image. “I’m happy to make money to buy delicious food and share them with my friends. I don’t think I have to look skinny,” the Twice’s leader said.

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Ji Hyo is confident of her appearance even though she is not as skinny as the standard of female Kpop idols.

Ji Hyo’s thoughts received a positive response from the fans. Her fans are proud when she broke the stereotype about beauty in Kpop. In Sixteen, the reality show about the process of selecting Twice’s members, Ji Hyo was criticized because of her “chubby” appearance. When debuted, Ji Hyo received a lot of negative comments because she is not skinny. She has lost a lot of weight, but she is still mocked for her “big thigh” every time she wears a short skirt. Ji Hyo even once busted into tears during a fan meeting when a fan said that she looked like a weightlifter.

Some commented,“I’m proud of Ji Hyo, the amazing leader”; “Great job Ji Hyo, you’re most beautiful when you’re confident with yourself”; “I hope Ji Hyo will always be happy with her life, no matter what other people say”; “I feel very happy to see Ji Hyo being confident and comfortable with her body, especially after all the bullshit she went through” …

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Ji Hyo when she appeared on Sixteen.
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