Fans Pour Out Their Support For Kim Kookheon As He Auditions Once More Following His Wrongful “Produce 101” Elimination

Back in 2019, Mnet shocked the public when they admitted to manipulating votes for the Produce 101 series. And while two of the show’s producers were sentenced to prison, dozens of contestants that fell victim to the voter manipulation have been suffering from the consequences — even to this day.

Amongst the many unfairly eliminated Produce trainees, is one particular male contestant that has started to make headlines for his ongoing journey to achieve his dreams.

Meet The Music Works trainee, Kim Kookheon. He was one of the many trainees whose time on Produce X 101 was cut short after being unfairly eliminated, with his final ranking coming in at 21st place.

Following his elimination, Kim Kookheon didn’t give up on his dreams as he continued on with his K-Pop idol journey. He debuted in duo B.O.Y back in January 2020, but they would disband just over a year later in April 2021. And while he has remained relatively quiet since, the former Produce X 101 contestant has re-emerged into the spotlight as a contestant on TV Chosun‘s audition program, Tomorrow’s National Singer.

He was introduced as the contestant who was previously unfairly eliminated by the Produce X 101 series.

Following his introduction, he discussed his ongoing K-Pop idol journey with the viewers and judges of the show.

There was a lot of pain from the previous audition experience.

— Kim Kookheon

He shared that it has been going through a tough time, as he lived “in the past.”

To be honest, I was stuck in the past and lived like that for the past few months.

— Kim Kookheon

Kim Kookheon believed that he needed to give up music — so he “gave up dancing and singing” for a brief moment.

So I gave up music. I gave up dancing and singing, which were things that I enjoyed. I did it so that I could try to focus on other paths.

— Kim Kookheon

However, after battling with himself, the former Produce X 101 contestant revealed that he couldn’t give up his dreams because “this is what [he] wants to do.”

But I kept coming back to this because this is what I want to do. Which is why I chose to audition once again.

— Kim Kookheon

Following his appearance on Tomorrow’s National Singer, netizens and fans began to pour out their unending support for the idol, as they encouraged him on his journey.

• “Omg ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ I wish him the best.”
• “Kookheon-ah, he was my original visual pickㅠㅠㅠ seriously, he’s funny, he’s good at singing, and he’s good at dancingㅠ I liked him because of his visuals, but he also had a lot of talent tooㅠㅠㅠ I hope you do wellㅠㅠ are the viewers not able to voteㅠㅠ.”
• “It’s so sadㅜㅜ”
• “I really wish the best for Kookheon, seriously.”
• “I hope he does well.”
• “I didn’t religiously watch ‘Produce’ but he was my original pick…my heart hurtsㅠㅠ do wellㅠㅠ”
• “Whoa, Kookheon got even more handsome. Fightingㅜㅜㅜ”

We wish Kim Kookheon the best of luck on this new journey. You can watch Tomorrow’s National Singer every Thursday, as the contestants battle each other to win the grand prize of ₩300 million KRW (about $254,000 USD).