TWICE’s Jihyo Opens Up About Her Experience Training With The Wonder Girls And 2PM

TWICE‘s Jihyo was recently a guest on soloist Lee Mujin‘s musical variety program, Leemujin Service, to promote her solo debut.

Jihyo officially made her long-awaited solo debut, releasing her EP ZONE on August 18. During her interview on Leemujin Service, she opened up about her debut, her solo release, and her time as a trainee.

TWICE’s Jihyo in a promotional photo for her appearance on “Leemujin Service.” | @mujin_plz/Twitter

Jihyo, now 26 years old, first became a trainee at eight years old. She briefly trained at another company before becoming a trainee at JYP Entertainment in 2005.

Putting the longevity of her career in entertainment in perspective, the TWICE leader opened up about what it was like training with members of the 2nd generation groups, the Wonder Girls and 2PM, before they even debuted.

Fellow trainees at the time included members of the Wonder Girls, 2PM, and Miss A, as well as former JYP Entertainment trainees like Highlight‘s Kikwang, 2NE1‘s CL, and former Wonder Girls and 4MINUTE member HyunA.

TWICE’s Jihyo (front center) as a trainee with members of 2PM, Wonder Girls, Highlight’s Kikwang, CL, and more.

With such a significant age gap between the young Jihyo and older trainees, Lee Mujin was naturally curious about what it was like for Jihyo to train with her legendary sunbaes, before she became a legendary sunbae herself.

TWICE’s Jihyo (left) and Wonder Girls’ Sunmi (right) Wonder Girls’ Hyerim (left) and TWICE’s Jihyo (right)

Jihyo revealed that the older trainees “really loved [her]” and explained that as she watched them debut before her, she had a mature outlook on the situation.

Instead of feeling envy, she found it “interesting” to witness their debut as she reminded herself that it wasn’t her time yet.

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She hilariously shared that after the older trainees, whom she had grown close to, debuted, she often wanted their autographs to gift to her parents.

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When Jihyo was able to debut herself, she revealed that she initially “suffered a lot.” Check out more on that in the article below:

TWICE’s Jihyo Explains Why She “Suffered A Lot” After Debut