Sandara Park's Advice for Introverted Idols: 'Just Get Older'

Sandara Park's advice for introverted idols? just get older. The 2NE1 member delivered the line on the YouTube channel Donghaemulgwa Baekdu Eunhyuk, where she joined Super Junior's Eunhyuk for a candid conversation about what it actually takes to survive variety television.

Sandara opened by admitting she was once the least likely person to thrive on entertainment programs. "When I first started doing variety, I got a lot of criticism," she said. "People called me a 'standing screen' and said I was just collecting my appearance fee. I struggled through that for years." The turnaround came during her four-year run as an MC on Video Star, where she worked alongside experienced hosts and found, when she moved on to other programs, that she had quietly learned how to hold a conversation.

Eunhyuk pushed back gently: "Isn't that only when a camera is in front of you?" Sandara responded by bowing her head in quiet acknowledgment, which got a laugh.

The conversation turned to younger introverted idols. Eunhyuk said he notices many of them worrying about the same things Sandara once did, asking how they can function on screen when they are naturally soft-spoken and shy. Her answer was immediate: "Just get older. Time will sort it out. If you do variety under pressure, you learn."

Eunhyuk's follow-up landed just as cleanly: "Maybe that's because there are no more Spartan-style variety shows these days," a reference to the older format where cast members were pushed into uncomfortable situations that effectively trained them on the job.

The remarks are circulating with particular interest because of a controversy that broke the day before the episode aired. Actor Jeong Junwon appeared on Hang Out with Yoo on the 1st to promote a project and struggled visibly throughout. He hesitated through host Yoo Jaesuk's questions, failed to join a dialogue challenge, and at one point closed his eyes rather than participate. Public reaction split along familiar lines: some argued his introversion deserved understanding, while others maintained that reticence and poor preparation are separate things entirely. The latter view appears to be the majority one.

Sandara's comments do not address Jeong Junwon directly, but the timing gives them a resonance they might not otherwise have. Her position is essentially that the discomfort is real, the learning curve is long, and neither of those facts exempts anyone from showing up and doing the work while they wait for time to do its part.