"I was heartbroken"- GOT7's BamBam opens up about his hardships as a K-pop trainee in a recent interview with 1Million Dance Studio

On Friday, August 16, GOT7's BamBam sat for an interview with 1 Million Dance Studio. During the same, the idol opened up about several things that unfolded during his K-pop trainee days. BamBam shared that initially, he was really excited and happy to be training to become a K-pop idol. He not only received support from JYP Entertainment but also had other foreign trainees and his fellow GOT7 members cheering for his debut.

However, things changed after his debut. The idol seemingly hinted that he was subject to racism. He expressed that he received a lot of support from his fans whenever GOT7 had schedules abroad. However, in Korea, the support was comparatively less. Regardless, the idol was able to slowly establish himself over the years, especially after his solo debut.

Here's what he shared during the interview:

"Oh, I was heartbroken. But back then… I was sad, but I used it as motivation to work harder. When we started touring outside Korea to perform, I had a lot of fans rooting for me. Still, I didn’t have a lot of support when we performed in Korea. But ever since I went solo… and at one point, things just changed, and more Koreans started acknowledging me."

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GOT7's BamBam talks about his experience as a Thai K-pop trainee in a recent interview with 1Million Dance Studio

During the interview, the idol started off by sharing that his initial days as a K-pop idol and his trainee days were quite nice. He not only performed well during assessments and evaluations but also shared a great bond with his fellow trainees and the agency he was housed under.

"I was actually totally fine when I was a trainee. When I lived at the dorm, I lived with other foreigner trainees, including some GOT7 members, too. So, I had a lot of fun there. It was fine. People at JYPE also adored me, and to be honest, I got great scores on the end-of-the-month evaluations and other assessments. So, I had a good reputation built. I was confident about the debut", he said.

While BamBam was excited and confident about his debut, his actual debut changed many things. He stated that several people allegedly looked down on him for being Southeast Asian and also made racist comments. He shared,

"Once I debuted, though, nothing went as I expected. That was rough. I struggled at that point. People said a lot of things… Like, I was so young. My skin was also not as bright-toned as it is now. I had chubbier cheeks and not the greatest voice. So people said, ‘The group would have been better without that member,’ or even ‘Get rid of that Southeast Asian loser,’ and stuff."

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However, BamBam soon made a life as a K-pop idol and distanced himself from these hateful and racist comments. He stopped appearing on entertainment programs that didn't respect his ethnicity or qualities as a K-pop idol.

After a decade of struggle, the idol has now been able to get past such incidents.