It’s been two years since X1 disbanded because of the Produce 101 voting manipulation scandal. But the members of the ill-fated project group are still haunted by what happened.
Cho Seungyoun and Han Seungwoo recently opened up about it in a video posted to Baverse Studio’s YouTube channel. According to them, learning that X1 had to disband was bad, but seeing how crushed the rest of their members were upon hearing the news was downright terrible.
As Seungwoo and Seungyoun had already debuted before Produce X 101, they didn’t feel sorry for themselves. While X1’s disbandment saddened them, they felt more sorry for those in the group who had never gotten the chance to debut.
“We couldn’t say anything,” Seungwoo recalled. “Neither of us could raise our heads. The other members beside us also couldn’t raise their heads. Our minds went blank.”
Seungyoun—who now goes by the stage name WOODZ—said, “We heard a lot of things from many people and spent our days feeling stressed. As I already debuted once before, I was worried about the other members who never had the chance to do so. Thinking about my friends who would have to go back to training, I told them to contact me whenever. We had some emotional issues then, but personally, I was more preoccupied with realistic concerns.”
In separate sit-down interviews with KPOP IDOL OLYMPIC, Cha Junho and Lee Hangyul also opened up about X1’s untimely disbandment.
“The fact that we couldn’t repay everyone who supported us really hit us hard. I felt incredibly sad to say goodbye to our fans. We’d worked hard together, and everyone kept saying, ‘Let’s do our best,’ so I felt sad that we didn’t get to perform. I also felt sorry to everyone around me,” Junho said.
Luckily, X1’s disbandment wasn’t the end of the road for him, Seungwoo, and Seungyoun. After resuming his duties as the main vocalist of his old group VICTON, Seungwoo debuted as a soloist, as did Seungyoun. Junho, for his part, continued training at Woollim Entertainment. He eventually re-debuted in October 2020 as part of DRIPPIN, its newest boy group.
Meanwhile, Hangyul said he struggled a lot after X1 fell apart.
“It was one of the most disheartening and upsetting experiences of my life,” he admitted. “I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t. I worked very hard on our album, and we got a lot of support from the fans. It was disappointing that our time as a group ended after releasing only one album.”
He even entertained the idea of quitting his idol career altogether.
“At first, I thought, ‘Should I just quit?’ I was feeling like that, but a part of me actually wanted to try again. The hardest part was preparing to debut, debuting, and doing it all over again. It was too much for me to handle. I only decided to keep doing what I do because of the fans that stayed with me. I thought, if I were to quit, the fans would be dejected if I just disappeared.”
X1 disbanded following a meeting attended by representatives from the members’ agencies. The members wanted to be there too, but they were denied the chance to attend and make themselves heard. Ultimately, the group’s fate was decided by their management.
Hangyul has since gone on to a post-X1 career in the boy group BAE173, but he still thinks of his former group from time to time.
“The team wanted to do more, but that was scrapped because the labels couldn’t work together. For me, that was really unfortunate. It’s a team I’d like to reform one day,” he confessed.
What about you, readers? Would you like to see an X1 reunion someday?
