On the December 29th broadcast of SBS’s “Special Bodymentary – Confessions About Fat”, SISTAR’s Soyou shared her candid story about dieting and the challenges she faced.
Recalling her pre-debut days, Soyou said, “I craved sweets so much. I was obsessed with mini yakgwa (Korean honey cookies). I wanted them so badly that I would sneak into the bathroom to eat them, but I got caught. Some people ran away, some froze in place, and some stuffed the cookies into their mouths.”
She continued, “There was a time I fainted on the street. A stranger took me to the hospital. I needed an injection, but my first thought was that getting an IV would make me gain weight. I worried my weight would increase if the IV went into my body. That’s how I lost weight and debuted. I was happy because I debuted. I received so much love—it felt surreal. I was extremely busy, filming commercials and attending events.“
However, after debuting, with no one to monitor her closely, Soyou began ordering whatever food she wanted. Her weight eventually increased. She confessed, “During the ‘Shady Girl’ era, I was slim, but by the time we did ‘How Dare You’, my weight reached its peak. At first, people said I looked a bit swollen, but eventually, they started saying I had gained weight. For a celebrity, it was shocking. I weighed 56kg.”
Faced with pressure from her agency to lose weight again, Soyou resorted to an extreme diet. She revealed, “I ate 4 quail eggs, but I removed the yolks. That was pretty much all I ate. One time, I visited a friend’s house, and they cut up watermelon for me. My friends told me it was okay to eat one slice, but I couldn’t bring myself to eat it. I ended up crying because I couldn’t eat it. I lost 8kg in a month.”
Soyou reflected on the toll her extreme measures took on her body and mind, “I went nearly two months without eating anything except water, coffee and pills. My weight dropped so much that even my stylist expressed concern. At one point, I thought, ‘I could die today.’“
The singer also shared her struggles during SISTAR’s disbandment, admitting, “I considered retiring when SISTAR disbanded because I was so afraid of being alone. The pressure and obsession with being No.1 were overwhelming, and I felt like I had lost myself.” Soyou also revealed that she experienced panic disorder during her solo promotions. She said, “During music show recordings, I suddenly started crying uncontrollably for two hours. When I went to the hospital, I was diagnosed with panic disorder.”
The broadcast also featured footage of Soyou’s visibly dark and emotionless expressions during performances and events, which had previously sparked criticism for her attitude. Reflecting on that time, Soyou said, “The only thing on my mind was not collapsing on stage. I felt like I was going to throw up, my whole body felt tense, and I couldn’t breathe, but I couldn’t make a mistake in front of hundreds of people.”
Addressing societal pressure, Soyou said, “The obsession with being thin is intense. If I weren’t a celebrity, I wouldn’t have dieted like this. It’s a dilemma—I have to lose weight, but there’s no solution other than enjoying the process because it’s my body, and I am the owner of it.“
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