Here’s What The 10 Last-Place Korean Contestants From “Produce 48” Are Doing Now
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It’s already been over three years since Mnet‘s Produce 48 ended—so long that its debut group, IZ*ONE, has already disbanded as scheduled. But what became of the contestants who didn’t make it on the show? These 10 participants received the lowest rankings out of all the Korean trainees and were eliminated in the first round; here’s what they’re doing now.
1. Won Seoyeon
Won Seoyeon ranked 92nd in the first Produce 48 elimination round with 30,103 votes.
She joined the show as a trainee under MMO Entertainment, but it seems the 21-year-old has now left the company. Currently, she’s studying Vocal Arts at Howon University, and it’s unclear whether she plans to continue her dream of becoming an idol.
2. Choi Soeun
Choi Soeun ranked 90th in the first Produce 48 elimination round with 31,436 votes.
Now 20 years old, Soeun still appears to be a trainee under The Music Works. However, it’s currently unclear whether the label plans to debut a new girl group anytime soon. Several acts, including MYTEEN and 2NE1‘s Minzy, have departed the agency over the past few years.
3. Cho Sarang
Cho Sarang ranked 89th in the first Produce 48 elimination round with 34,038 votes.
It’s believed that 18-year-old Sarang is still training under Million Market, a subsidiary of SM Entertainment. However, her fellow Produce competitor and labelmate Son Eunchae left the company in 2019 and will soon be debuting in A Team Entertainment‘s new girl group bugAboo. As such, some have speculated that Million Market may not be planning a new girl group.
4. Kim Yubin
Kim Yubin ranked 88th in the first Produce 48 elimination round with 34,070 votes.
Now 19 years old, Yubin was training under CNC Entertainment when she joined the show; shortly after her elimination, she moved to STARDIUM Entertainment. Then, in 2020, she moved once again—this time to Major 9 Entertainment. In November 2020, she debuted the latter agency’s new girl group, BlingBling, as the lead vocalist, lead dancer, center, and maknae.
Then, in May this year, the group released their first mini-album: Contrast. The album sold approximately 600 copies in its first few months of release.
5. Ahn Yewon
Ahn Yewon ranked 86th in the first Produce 48 elimination round with 35,795 votes.
Ahn Yewon competed under YG Entertainment‘s model management subsidiary YG KPLUS. It appears she’s still signed to the label today, but she now goes by the name Go Yijin.
Alongside her modeling career, the 20-year-old is also following in her actor father Ahn Gyebeom‘s footsteps as an actress. Last year, she starred as Yoon Seul Ro in the web drama Sugar Coating, which focused on five young people with difficulty in romance.
Finally, she also has a YouTube channel—YE WON—where she posts vlogs, hauls, and “get ready with me” videos to her 2,400 subscribers.
6. Cho Yeongin
Cho Yeongin ranked 84th in the first Produce 48 elimination round with 36,672 votes.
Still signed to WM Entertainment, the 19-year-old graduated from Hanlim Multi Art School last February after majoring in applied music. However, she now appears to be focusing primarily on her acting career. Yeonjin debuted as an actress in 2019 when she played a supporting role in the Naver TV Cast web drama A-TEEN 2.
She then went on to score the leading role of Min So Young in another web drama series, Summer Vacation (2019) and Winter Vacation (2020).
7. Alex Christine
Alex Christine ranked 82nd in the first Produce 48 elimination round with 37,536 votes.
Perhaps the best-known contestant from the bottom 10 Produce 48 trainees, Alex Christine made her solo debut as AleXa in October 2019 with “Bomb.”
Since then, she’s gone on to release seven more singles, two mini-albums, and several collaborations. Her latest single album, ReviveR, sold around 400 copies in its first week, and she won three K-Pop awards in 2020.
On top of her music career, 24-year-old AleXa is the co-host of DIVE Studios‘ podcast How Did I Get Here? alongside DAY6‘s Jae, and she’s set to make her acting debut in Netflix‘s Goedam 2 this year—an anthology horror K-Drama series based on urban legends.
8. Park Jieun
Park Jieun ranked 80th in the first Produce 48 elimination round with 37,826 votes.
After being eliminated from the show, Park Jieun went back to training at RBW. While it took a few years for the company’s new girl group to come together, Jieun (now 24 years old) finally made her official debut as a vocalist PURPLE KISS back in March this year.
PURPLE KISS has gone on to become one of the most popular fourth-generation girl groups. Last month, they released their latest mini-album (Hide & Seek), which has sold almost 40,000 copies to date.
9. Lee Chaejeong
Lee Chaejeong ranked 79th in the first Produce 48 elimination round with 38,711 votes.
Chaejeong initially competed under M&D17, and shortly after Produce 48, she announced that she’d soon be debuting in a girl group under the company. However, it seems the group’s debut fell through, and Chaejeong ultimately moved to Hunus Entertainment. In February 2020, she was revealed as one of the newest members of 2017 girl group ELRIS. She made her debut in the group with the song “Jackpot.”
Unfortunately, ELRIS has not released music since then. Last month, many fans speculated that the group may be officially disbanding after Chaejeong and several other members removed mentions of ELRIS from their social media accounts. However, 22-year-old Chaejeong later changed her Instagram bio to “ELRIS Chaejeong” again, giving fans hope that things may not be over.
10. Hong Yeji
Hong Yeji ranked 78th in the first Produce 48 elimination round with 39,465 votes.
Like BlingBling’s Yubin, Yeji also left CNC Entertainment after the show and signed to STARDIUM Entertainment. She also followed the same path of leaving STARDIUM Entertainment in 2020. But, in February 2021, she signed a contract with Bareuljung Entertainment. Now, she’s following her dreams as an actress.
The 19-year-old was recently cast in the lead role of Yoon Young in Young Lady, an upcoming movie about a teenager imprisoned after an unavoidable accident.
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