ITZY member Yuna has opened up about how she almost didn’t make the cut to join the group, and spoke about the “pressure” she feels as a result.
The 20-year-old singer was a recent guest star on Radio Star, an MBC talk show with a spin-off on the network’s YouTube channel. During her time on the episode, which aired on February 1, she spoke to the show’s hosts about her time as a trainee with her label, JYP Entertainment.
“Back when I was a trainee, I trained so hard to make my debut. At JYP Entertainment, all trainees get ‘report cards’ at the end of the month. You can check your rank within the trainees on the cards. I’ve never ranked near the top, but all the other ITZY members consistently ranked among the top 10 trainees,” she told the hosts, per SBS Star.
“When ITZY was [first] made, I wasn’t part of the team,” Yuna added. “It was really frustrating. At that time, I even thought to myself, ‘I’m in my third year of training. Maybe it’s time to put an end to it. Shall I quit?’” Shortly after, the singer revealed that she was later added to the team as its last member “quickly and unexpectedly”.
Despite having been added to the ITZY line-up later on in the process, she recalled feeling “very pressured” because of her initial experience. “I kept stressing about not being on their level since the other members were so amazing,” the singer added, before saying that that feeling has yet to go away for her, despite having been part of the band for nearly five years now.
“I’m not going to lie. I still feel like that – pressured about not being as good as them. I find performing ITZY’s songs difficult,” Yuna admitted, which earned her praises from the hosts for her honesty. “I feel bad for the other members of ITZY who have to always sing high-pitched parts. So, my goal is to get more parts in our songs this year.”
ITZY are scheduled to embark on a massive world tour this year in support of their recently released studio album of the same name. The tour will kick off with two shows in their home city of Seoul, South Korea, before taking the quartet to cities across Asia, Australia, North America, Europe and more over the course of the coming year.
ITZY’s 2024 ‘Born to Be’ world tour will only feature four of the girl group’s five member. Fifth member Lia is currently taking a break from promotional activities, having gone on after hiatus in September 2023 due to “extreme levels of anxiety”.
