It's kind of like going to the army
except we're not holding guns, we're holding microphones.
We're dancing. That's our training.
Everything you do has to be perfect. You can't have any flaws
in your makeup, your hair, your dancing, your singing...
You're not allowed to, of course, drinking, smoking
Even having a girlfriend is an imperfection.
Initially you said you basically had to run away from Australia
to follow your dreams. Is that true?
Well I still am a good boy, so just because I ran away it doesn't mean I'm a bad boy
My family really wanted me to be something more stable.
I was born and raised in Australia
I grew up in a typical Chinese family where I went to Chinese school, I did tutoring
So I pretty much went to school seven days a week.
So this is Studio 1. I used to teach classes in here.
I was teaching at a dance studio here
It was great. You make good money.
I was 18 or 19, paying off a loan for my own house, and I had a car
I was pretty much set. But i had big dreams
and when you look on TV, you don't see many Asian faces on TV
So, I was like, "Mum, I'm just going to go on a holiday"
To celebrate my grandma's birthday. I think she was turning 81.
So I went to China and I never came back.
It's been four years.
At a certain point you win this massive talent competition
and you meet Jackie Chan. Tell me about that first meeting.
The first thing that came through my head was,
"this is a scam. This has gotta be a scam."
I met Jackie and he said, "I love music"
and tried to explain what we were going to do
It was going to be a K-pop group.
I was on Korean TV without being able to speak Korean
Paint me a picture of what a day in the life of a K-pop star is.
On a normal day, before my debut
I would wake up at 5.30am and we'd have to go out to run
at the Hamhung River. We'd run 13km
have a shower, get dressed and do to the dance studio.
You haven't eaten anything yet.
Our first meal is at 12pm. So we dance until 12
so our meal would be ready by 12pm.
So you don't get a choice in what you're eating?
We don't get a choice. The company decides.
We eat and after that we have a little bit of rest
and at about 1.30pm we have vocal classes and rap classes
After that, for me that was my time to learn Korean.
Then it's dinner time, and after dinner back to dance studio
and we dance until 1 or 2am.
So you go from five in the morning to 1am?
Yeah.
I've been doing that for two years.
I ran twice in really hard pouring snow
and we still have to run our 13 kilometres.
It's intense.
The standards for Korean beauty are very specific
Tell me about the first time you were called a big-face
I was called bigface pretty much
smallface is probably the greatest compliment you can get from a Korean.
If you have a normal sized face... like you!
(laughs)
I knew you were going to say that!
Not a regular face, a normal sized face. You're much better looking.
Dig up!
We sing, we dance and stuff.
People screenshot these days
and you go, "oh, double chin!"
I've been called Doublechin many times.
Apparently that's a shame, that's an embarrassment.
From the day I first got there to today I lost about nine kilos.
They checked my weight pretty much right away.
Then they checked if I'd had plastic surgery
because if I'd had plastic surgery they would not take me.
They told me to close my eyes first.
I closed my eyes, they checked my eyes, touched my nose...
So they checked beforeI was able to join them.
And I was fine. I passed.
But they also took your mobile phone as well...
Yes, they did take my mobile phone.
When i first got there they said, "we're going to take your mobile phone"
I said, "no you're not, I've got to talk to my mum".
So I ended up handing in my phone
but I wasn't that scared because i still had my iPad.
So then they ended up finding out i had an iPad
and then they took that as well.
And then I was like, "that's okay, I still have my notebook".
And eventually I got my notebook taken off me as well.
So I had to go to the gym and they would have public computers
in the lobby of the gym.
So that is when we can contact our families.
Just sending emails.
If there was one thing from your old life
your pre K-pop life that you'd like to have right now
what would it be?
Money?
Wait, don't you have money now?
I used to make more money.
Really?
In the K-pop industry it's actually very hard to make money when you're starting off.
The company invested a lot of money into you
and in the end you're left with nothing.
But once it gets better people get paid extra money.
I may have said something that wil get me in trouble, but it's okay.
It's really full on.
Yeah, it's really full on.
That's why it's so hard.
This time I've come back to Australia for my concerts
it's the first time I've seen my mum in three and a half years.
Are you sure it's worth it?
I hope so, in the end.
I think my ultimate dream is not just to become famous
but to make enough money to support my family
and to have enough power to tell the company
"I want to have my mum or my dad by my side everyday."
If you could go back in time and talk to yourself
before you landed in Korea
knowing what you know now
about the regime, about the very exacting standards of beauty
the time, the distance away from family
do you think you'd still do it?
That's a hard one. It's a very hard one.
Because right now I work with some really great boys
so if i didn't go I wouldn't meet them.
These boys are the people I want to be connected with forever.
But I don't think I will regret it
Would I have chosen a different path? Maybe not.
MaybeI would have studied Korean first.
The pleasure was mine.
We're done? Thanks Marc Fennell.
This handshake is going forever.
So the elder here, so you sit while I do this
What do I say in return?