Meet Cha Jun-hwan, the Olympic figure skater with a K-pop past: he trained with Enhypen’s Sunghoon, was a child actor in K-dramas and even sang on King of Mask Singer
- The ‘figure prince’ started out as a child actor in K-dramas including The Return of Iljimae (2009), and also sang on variety show King of Masked Singer in 2020
- Hosts on MBC’s Video Star and JTBC’s Cool Kids have confused him with an idol and he grew up practising with Enhyphen’s Sunghoon, who started out as a figure skater
So what is there to know about Korea’s “figure prince”, and why do so many love him?
He’s multitalented
Though he’s a skater now, the young athlete has built up quite the repertoire since childhood. He started out as a child actor, starring in K-dramas from as young as six, including The Return of Iljimae (2009). But after learning to skate, the sport quickly became his passion, which led to his professional career.
He’s a singer, too, appearing on the King of Mask Singer in 2020, and has even showed off his dancing skills. His all-round abilities and versatility certainly gained him many fans.
He’s often mistaken for a K-pop idol
Not only does he draw attention with his talent, but Cha is also popular for his youthful looks, and he’s constantly mistaken for a K-pop star. After his appearance on MBC’s Video Star, one of the hosts mistook him for an idol. The same thing happened again during his appearance on JTBC’s Cool Kids, when one of the MC’s exclaimed, “I thought he was an idol!” Fans have even called him the “K-pop star stolen by figure skating”.
Now he’s even being treated like a K-pop idol. When he came back to Korea, he was met by a crowd, including “fansites” – fans who take high-quality images of K-pop idols and upload them to social media, according to Koreaboo.
He trained with Enhypen’s Sunghoon
