Stray Kids’ Bang Chan says he “sacrificed a lot” to become a K-pop idol

Stray Kids leader Bang Chan has shared in a new interview about what he had to sacrificed in order to make his debut as a K-pop idol.

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The Australian-Korean idol recently sat with Rolling Stone UK for an interview, during which he touched on his life as a trainee under JYP Entertainment and what it was like having to move away from home and family as a young teenager to debut in the K-pop industry.

Stray Kids’ Bang Chan was a trainee under the company for seven years before debuting with Stray Kids in 2018. “I miss a lot about Australia. I miss my family. The environment… the water, the food, my mates. I miss my dog, Berry,” he told the outlet.

However, he also shared that, at the time, he didn’t think much about the gravity of his decision when he first left home. “Maybe because I was young, I didn’t really think that much of it. I was like, ‘Right, new journey – start a new life,’ and flew to Korea,” he said.

In retrospect, however, he does realise just how much he’s given up for the life he has today. “But now that I think about it, I did sacrifice a lot. I do think a lot about ‘What if I didn’t leave? What would life be like back there?’,” he shared.

“Those thoughts I do have a lot, but in the end, I think it was a great decision for me to leave my family,” he concludes, though notes that it “sounds weird when you say it like that”.

Yet, Bang Chan also re-emphasised that he made the right decision when he thinks about his fellow Stray Kids bandmates. “I was thinking, ‘Would I be here without the guys? If it wasn’t for them, I probably wouldn’t be here, right?’,” he said.

“It might be because I am the leader of the group, but I just want to do so much for the Kids because they have done something so great for me. Stray Kids, everyone, our whole team, everyone who works with us are very, very precious to me.”

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