Han Sang-jin, Heo Sung-tae, and Jung Joon-ha have joined a ‘famous but unpopular gathering’.
The MBC entertainment program ‘What Do You Do When You Play?’ (directed by Kim Jin-yong, Jang Woo-sung, Jang Hyo-jong, Wang Jong-seok, written by Choi Hye-jung) featured a special on ‘Insa-mo’ that aired on the afternoon of the 9th.
On this day’s broadcast, Haha and Joo Woo-jae met Han Sang-jin, the first celebrity who voluntarily wanted to join Insa-mo. Haha said, “Hyung, you know why we’re here, right? If we proceed like this, you might just appear on Insa-mo,” implying that he did not meet the qualifications.
In response, Joo Woo-jae added, “Insa-mo consists of people who are popular but not famous, but Han Sang-jin has no popularity at all,” which struck a chord. Han Sang-jin expressed his anger, saying, “I only replayed that part.”
Han Sang-jin continued, “I felt really bad about that. But the people you mentioned are ones I cannot acknowledge. They aren’t even famous! Two Cut... isn’t his real name Jeong-sik? And Kyung-hwan, I’m not so sure about... Even combined, their drama ratings are lower than mine,” stating that Heo Kyung-hwan, Two Cut, and Jang Hang-jun should not be in Insa-mo.
Hearing this, Joo Woo-jae remarked, “Hyung, your representative work is ‘Excuse’! Why not?” to which Han Sang-jin replied, “I’ve been in the entertainment industry for 30 years, and my representative work is ‘Excuse’? You’re doing this on purpose, right?” getting emotional. When Haha exclaimed, “Hyung, your hands are cold right now,” Han Sang-jin admitted, “I’m surprised right now.”
Later, Han Sang-jin stated, “Haha also posts about his popularity on social media, right? I have no popularity compared to my fame.” However, Haha countered, “Hyung, since we’re close, I’ll be honest! You’re not as famous as I think! You are famous!” driving the point home. Han Sang-jin humorously responded, “‘What Do You Do When You Play?’ is only watched by people in their 10s and 20s? I’m 40 to 99!”
Han Sang-jin listed numerous representative works such as the dramas ‘Son of the Pharmacy House’ and ‘Yi San’, but Haha and Joo Woo-jae joked, “When did you appear in those? Why can’t we remember you?” causing laughter in the studio. Haha added, “It’s strange that nothing impactful comes to mind,” and looked up more information about Han Sang-jin’s fan cafe, which turned out to have only one member.
After persistent courting, Han Sang-jin became an additional successful candidate for Insa-mo.
Meanwhile, Yoo Jae-suk and Lee Yi-kyung gathered to meet another Insa-mo candidate. Yoo Jae-suk expressed, “Honestly, I wonder if this person should be here... Isn’t this person a world star?” showing his confusion. Lee Yi-kyung replied, “They are a world star, but not as much as you think! They know well,” indicating that he was an acquaintance.
At that moment, actor Heo Sung-tae appeared as a candidate for Insa-mo. A nervous Heo Sung-tae ordered sundae soup without knowing what was going on and talked about his recent activities. When Yoo Jae-suk said, “This all started from Haha’s mouth,” Heo Sung-tae responded, “Oh, I saw that. The one about being unpopular,” indicating he was already aware.
Heo Sung-tae, who received an invitation, was flustered and admitted, “Oh, but! I’m also unpopular. I have 30 members in my fan cafe.” It turned out that the fan cafe had 52 members, and Heo Sung-tae expressed his gratitude, saying, “I’ve even received ginseng.”
Heo Sung-tae shared, “After ‘Squid Game 1’ aired, my SNS followers reached 2.4 million, and my phone was turned off due to notifications, but after that, I lost about a thousand followers a day. I went down to 1.28 million, but as ‘Good Boy’ got better, it started to rise a bit.”
He continued, “But I’ve never talked about this before... I had a panic disorder. I was filming a historical drama at that time, and I even stopped filming. All the staff felt like they were watching me. It felt like they were saying, ‘You exploded into the world, right? Let’s see how well you act.’ In reality, no one was doing that, but my limbs were shaking. So I went to a neurologist and got counseling,” he added.
Listening to this, Lee Yi-kyung said, “So that’s why I couldn’t contact you around that time! There were many rumors about you! They said you changed after ‘Squid Game 1’ did well. We’ve been in touch the same way. I didn’t know you were hurting,” expressing his regret. Heo Sung-tae reflected, “So when people hear this... I didn’t do anything, but they say I changed? Did I say something too serious?” recalling the past. Yoo Jae-suk expressed concern, saying, “So Sung-tae... I didn’t know.”
A few days later, Yoo Jae-suk and Haha gathered to meet the sixth Insa-mo candidate. Yoo Jae-suk mentioned, “Recently, this person did a live broadcast, and about a thousand people watched it,” expressing hope for a big catch.
At that moment, Jung Joon-ha appeared. Upon seeing Jung Joon-ha, Yoo Jae-suk teased, “You cut your hair cute. But your face looks bigger, right?” making everyone laugh.
As Jung Joon-ha mentioned he was preparing for a broadcast, Haha reminded him, “When you were preparing for the broadcast, Myung-soo hyung came and messed things up. He even cursed at me when you appeared,” referring to past incidents. Jung Joon-ha replied, “I want to say this very calmly. If I get cut, I just... live hard. Am I being clingy to you?” criticizing Park Myung-soo.
Hearing this, Yoo Jae-suk pressed, “Oh, hyung, you’ve also cursed at us, right? Didn’t you? It wasn’t cursing, but you said a little! Didn’t you?” to which Jung Joon-ha replied, “I didn’t... Can’t I even talk about that with my stylist? Where can I go and curse?” admitting it and causing laughter.
Jung Joon-ha stated, “I didn’t even have a hundred viewers for my live. It wasn’t even a thousand,” confirming that he was indeed famous but unpopular.
Later, Jung Joon-ha received an invitation to Insa-mo. He remarked, “First of all, you can’t compare me to Seok-jin hyung. Isn’t he only popular abroad?” expressing disbelief. However, upon hearing Yoo Jae-suk mention that he performed at Waterbomb, Jung Joon-ha denied reality, saying, “What kind of Waterbomb is that, a 7080 Waterbomb?”
Yoo Jae-suk encouraged Jung Joon-ha, saying, “You didn’t start as a comedian but began as a manager for Rula, then became an FD, and eventually did comedy. Your life trajectory is amazing!” However, Haha continued, “I know. You’re famous but unpopular. That’s why you always hung out with So Ji-sub, Kwon Sang-woo, and Dong-wook!” expressing his frustration.
MBC ‘What Do You Do When You Play?’ airs every Saturday at 6:30 PM.
[Seo Ye-ji, Star Today Guest Reporter]
