FTISLAND's Lee Hong-gi Recalls Winning Gold on Variety Show, Agency Demanding He Share It With Members

FTISLAND (FT아일랜드) member Lee Hong-gi (이홍기) recently shared an amusing story from his past variety show appearances. He revealed that when he was younger, he won gold as a prize on a program, only for his agency to demand he share it equally with his bandmates. This infuriated him, and he couldn't help but retort to the members, "Didn't you say you didn't want to do variety shows?"

On the KBS 2TV show "The Boss Has Donkey Ears" (사장님 귀는 당나귀 귀), which aired on the 13th, N.Flying (엔플라잉) leader Lee Seung-hyub (이승협) appeared as a "K-band boss." Senior artist Lee Hong-gi of FTISLAND made a surprise appearance at N.Flying's practice room to support his juniors.

Upon meeting them, Lee Hong-gi playfully teased N.Flying, asking, "Aren't you currently on a national tour? How long do you plan to be this popular?" He then reminisced about FTISLAND's past experiences, saying, "Aside from our rookie days, we never did a national tour because we were already extremely popular as rookies." He confidently added with a laugh, "You guys back then couldn't even compare to us," drawing laughter from everyone present.

After 11 years since their debut, N.Flying was making their first appearance on a solo variety show as a full group. Lee Hong-gi curiously asked Lee Seung-hyub, "Why did you suddenly decide to do a variety show? Aren't you usually not the type to do many variety shows?"

Lee Seung-hyub explained that with the group's comeback approaching, they wanted to try various activities. "I wouldn't be confident going alone, but if I go with the members, I think it would be fun." Ryu Hwe-seung (유회승) then playfully jabbed, "I told you to go alone!" prompting Lee Hong-gi to share his own experience.

Lee Hong-gi revealed that the reason he was more recognized than other FTISLAND members back then was because he "went on variety shows alone to make FTISLAND known." He lamented, "As a result, because only I went out, people only knew me and didn't really recognize the other members."

He also recalled his astonishing workload in his youth: "There were so many variety shows back then; I could even appear on three in a single day." At that time, large-scale talk shows were popular in Korea, and the prizes were quite unique. "Variety shows back then even gave out gold as prizes."

On one occasion, he participated in a competition on "Manwonui Haengbok" (만원의 행복), also known as "Happy Together," and won, receiving "gold" as his prize. Unexpectedly, a company representative demanded, "Share the gold equally with the members."

This demand greatly displeased Lee Hong-gi. He laughingly recalled that when he distributed the gold to his bandmates, he couldn't help but exclaim, "Take it! Didn't you say you didn't want to do variety shows?" This unexpected revelation of a hilarious incident from their past group activities brought laughter to everyone present.