Beloved Model-Turned-TV Star Is Still “Traumatized And Obsessed” With Weight

In the latest episode of MBC‘s Sora And Jin Kyung, model-turned-TV personality Hong Jin Kyung opened up about the lasting scars of working in the modeling industry.

| @jinkyunghong/Instagram

Spotted in Paris waiting for their next modeling audition, Hong Jin Kyung and fellow model Lee So Ra headed to a nearby café. Instead of having a proper lunch, they chose to fill their stomachs only with coffee in preparation for the next audition.

At one point, Hong Jin Kyung admitted she was struggling because there was a nearby udon restaurant she really liked. Lee So Ra casually asked if she wanted to go that evening, but Hong Jin Kyung was immediately startled by the idea.

Wouldn’t you regret it the next day?! I can’t even imagine eating udon at night.

— Hong Jin Kyung

The moment led Hong Jin Kyung to candidly confess that, despite her already slender frame, she still struggles with deep anxiety about her weight. She explained that the fixation appears to be connected to painful memories from her younger modeling days, especially from auditions in Paris.

I don’t think my obsession with weight will leave me until the day I die… I think the trauma of being constantly rejected at auditions in Paris when I was young stayed with me.

— Hong Jin Kyung

Hong Jin Kyung added that while her appearance was part of the pressure, she also remembers feeling that her body was not thin enough at the time. “At the time, I had some weight on me. I think I wondered if I failed because of that, and the heartbreak stayed,” she explained.

Her confession resonated with Lee So Ra, who shared a painful memory of her own from her modeling days. According to Lee So Ra, she once traveled with other models for a fashion show, only to be criticized directly by a designer.

The designer openly said in front of me, ‘Why are you so fat?’ and told them to take me out of the show. I cried on the plane ride back. When you hear something like that in your early 20s, I think it stays with you for life.

— Lee So Ra

Such confessions, coming from two of the most successful models from Korea, have since drawn attention for its honesty, with many viewers sympathizing with how deeply body criticism can affect public figures long after the comments are made.

Read more about Hong Jin Kyung here:

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