Comedian Lee Hwi-jae returned to domestic broadcasting after four years on 'Immortal Songs' (hereafter Immortal Songs), and senior Cho Hye-lyeon revealed behind-the-scenes details.
Earlier, the KBS2 variety show 'Immortal Songs' aired on the afternoon of the 28th and was staged as the 2026 entertainment industry king of performers. Returning after four years, Lee Hwi-jae joined Cho Hye-lyeon, Hong Seok-cheon, Kim Shin-young & Chun Dan-bi, LalaL, Moon Seyoon, the Gag Concert 'Chatflix' team, Park Joonhyung, Song Il-gook & Oh Man-seok (musical 'The Hague' team), Lee Chan-seok and a total of 10 teams appeared.
Various opinions poured in about Lee Hwi-jae's comeback, and seemingly aware of that, Lee Hwi-jae was so nervous early on that he could barely lift his head and trembled. Then, thanks to the warm support of colleagues and seniors such as Cho Hye-lyeon, Hong Seok-cheon, and Kim Shin-young, he gradually adjusted, and just before the stage he seemed overwhelmed with emotion and shed tears.
Having lived between Canada and Korea, Lee Hwi-jae confessed in response to questions about his recent life, "If I talk about the four years it becomes too long. I spent precious time with my family and because I made many mistakes along the way it was time to look back on each one. It would be dishonest to say I did well. Going back and forth with the children and my wife (between Korea and Canada) gave me a lot of time for personal reflection," he admitted.
Lee Hwi-jae, who chose Choi Ho-seop's 'If Time Goes By,' said the lyrics matched his situation well and "To be honest I'm worried now. It's been a while, and because I sang there was pressure. A few weeks ago I was paralyzed by sleep paralysis. I was recording in a dream and needed to speak but my mouth wouldn't open. I realized I had taken a long break from broadcasting," he said, mentioning the burden.
The day before the recording, Lee Hwi-jae seemed to be overcome with emotion from rehearsal and cried heavily. He said, "In the past while broadcasting I was lacking and made mistakes. I think the person himself knows that best. You can't turn back time now, so if someone gives me something now I thought I can only do my best with it," he said. After steeling himself he went on stage and conveyed, "I feel grateful and sorry and a mix of emotions. I never thought my name would be aired again at the broadcasting station. I hope people will recognize that 'that guy really thought a lot over the past four years and came back,'" he said, expressing his whole heart.
Finally, while sharing news about his beloved twin sons he cried again. He said the twins Seo-eon and Seo-jun are already in the first year of middle school and "Actually they are now old enough to know exactly what their dad does. When they were little they didn't know. They said they thought I was a dad who goes to exercise," then added, "As the four-year gap passed they came to understand that these various situations of mine were due to my mistakes and that I had to rest. They don't say it out loud but they wrote letters. They said they hope I work again. They will be so happy to see me on TV," he said, wiping his tears.
That day's broadcast recorded a nationwide rating of 4.8% (according to Nielsen Korea), maintained the number one spot in its time slot for 147 consecutive weeks, and continued the power of the traditional Saturday variety stronghold. In addition, reactions such as "I support you," "I cried with him," and "I missed you" noticeably increased toward Lee Hwi-jae, spreading positive public sentiment about his return.
Watching junior Lee Hwi-jae from beside him, Cho Hye-lyeon told OSEN in an interview on the morning of the 29th, "These days I've been doing the musical 'Kiss Me, Kate' and my throat hasn't been in good condition, so at first I thought I couldn't appear on 'Immortal Songs,'" adding, "But the production team really wanted me to appear so I decided to, and I heard Hwi-jae would appear too. I was glad to see a face I hadn't seen in a while and wanted to cheer him on."
She added, "I heard he took lessons and prepared diligently to sing well and show a good stage," and "He appeared briefly on the broadcast but he trembled a lot from the camera rehearsal. From then on he cried a lot, shedding tears. He was so nervous that it was regrettable his skills didn't come out on stage," she revealed.
In particular, Cho Hye-lyeon took the initiative to perform the 'Ppana-nana-narra' dance herself to ease the awkward atmosphere among performers meeting for the first time and the nervous Lee Hwi-jae. When Cho Hye-lyeon led the dance, Lee Hwi-jae and Song Il-gook stood up and joined, and the heavy atmosphere lightened considerably. As the senior and elder, Cho Hye-lyeon took on the role of mood maker and drew attention.
Cho Hye-lyeon recalled, "Watching Hwi-jae rehearse, I joked, 'If you get teary or it bothers you while singing, you can think about the 'Ppana-nana-narra' we did earlier to hold back tears,' and he actually did that when he choked up on stage. (Laughs) He said it helped a lot. So he sang amazingly well," and added, "Many people prayed for and supported Lee Hwi-jae, and after finishing the stage he sincerely thanked them," recalling the warm atmosphere on set.
Cho Hye-lyeon also showed humility and a dependable senior side, saying, "If I can play that role as a senior, I'm very grateful."
Meanwhile, the 'Immortal Songs - 2026 entertainment industry king of performers' special is scheduled for two weeks and will air again next week.
[Photo] 'Immortal Songs' screen capture
[OSEN]