For years, South Korean actress Lee Seon Jeong made headlines over her shockingly short-lived marriage. The actress married broadcaster LJ after only 45 days of dating, but the couple lived together for just two and a half months before officially ending their marriage.

In a recent video uploaded to her personal YouTube channel, Lee Seon Jeong opened up about her life after the divorce, leaving many viewers surprised. The actress revealed that she is currently facing financial hardship and has struggled to find work in South Korea’s increasingly competitive entertainment industry. “I’ve been living off my savings, but even that money is almost gone now,” she said. “Not only am I having financial difficulties, but I can no longer find work in the entertainment industry, and that has left me feeling empty.”

Eventually, Lee decided to help out at her mother’s noodle restaurant. In the video, she is seen wearing an apron and rubber gloves while working in the kitchen of the family-owned business. “This is my mother’s restaurant. If I don’t work, I’d basically be unemployed. It’s much better to come here and help my mom than just stay at home,” she explained.

Whenever customers placed orders, Lee personally cooked and prepared the noodles. She also carried heavy pots around the kitchen and handled other physically demanding tasks, including washing dishes.

The actress admitted that the work was difficult at first. “In the beginning, I didn’t even know how to cook noodles. Back then I only helped with simple serving duties, but now I also cook the noodles and wash the dishes. Making a living is really hard. It’s exhausting,” she confessed.

Previously, during an appearance on Shin Jung Hwan’s YouTube channel Doctor Shin, Lee Seon Jeong revealed that she had decided to marry LJ after only 45 days of dating. “It wasn’t a shotgun wedding because of pregnancy,” she clarified. “It was simply because I was in love. At the time, he treated me incredibly well. I think I was captivated by that warmth, which made me rush into marriage.” She then shared more details about how impulsively the decision was made. “The day before we decided to get married, I had been drinking a lot. He was the first man to give me a crystal gift. When I saw it, I thought, ‘He’s the love of my life,’ and I immediately decided to marry him.”

Looking back, Lee admitted that rushing into marriage became one of her biggest regrets. Their relationship ended only a short time later. She candidly explained the reason behind the divorce. "Sometimes people divorce simply because they're incompatible. We had no emotional or physical connection."

Even today, she says she still regrets the decision. "Even now, I keep asking myself, 'Why did I do that back then?' I still feel a lot of regret."

Following the divorce, Lee Seon Jeong experienced a serious emotional breakdown. “After the divorce, I became so stressed that I exercised obsessively like a crazy person. I kept repeating the cycle of working out and then drinking alcohol. Six months after the divorce, I developed panic disorder. I couldn’t go to crowded places and constantly felt like I was about to collapse. I even started hearing strange sounds in my ears and almost fainted while shopping at a supermarket,” she recalled.

Concerned about her health, she eventually visited a hospital for medical examinations. Doctors performed an MRI scan and a series of comprehensive health tests, but informed her that everything appeared normal. Despite the results, Lee said she continued to feel something was seriously wrong. “Even though the doctors said I was fine, I could hear my heartbeat pounding loudly in my ears. My face would suddenly become flushed, and sometimes I couldn’t even breathe properly,” she shared.

Born in 1978, Lee Seon Jeong entered the Korean entertainment industry at the age of 18. She quickly attracted attention thanks to her impressive height of 170 centimeters, which stood out at the time. She later rose to fame through MBC’s hit sitcom Three Guys and Three Girls, becoming one of the familiar faces of Korean television.

Sources: Daum