Figure skater Cha Jun-hwan signed an exclusive contract with Fantagio, announcing the birth of a sport-tainer who began as a child actor.
On the 2nd, OSEN exclusively reported the news of Cha Jun-hwan's exclusive contract with Fantagio. According to multiple entertainment industry insiders, Cha Jun-hwan's contract with his former agency expired and while looking for a new company he recently signed an exclusive contract with Fantagio.
What is particularly noteworthy is that Cha Jun-hwan chose Fantagio, an entertainment-focused agency, rather than a sports agency. Known by various epithets such as "Korea's figure skating flagship," "figure prince," and "figure prince," Cha Jun-hwan is a current figure skater and a sports star beloved by many. However, unlike most athletes who typically start with sports agencies before expanding into the entertainment industry, Cha Jun-hwan drew attention by choosing Fantagio, a comprehensive entertainment company.
According to reports, a major factor behind this is Cha Jun-hwan's background of debuting as a child actor before pursuing a career as a figure skater. Born in 2001, Cha Jun-hwan actually debuted as a child actor after being selected as a model for various commercials in 2007. Later, while broadening his activities as an actor by studying ballet, taekwondo, violin, piano and other disciplines, he became fascinated with figure skating and first gained fame as an athlete.
He went on to serve as a national figure skater from 2015 and was widely loved as the "figure prince." In 2018, at just 17, he made his Winter Olympics debut at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. At the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics he finished fifth overall, receiving an enthusiastic welcome as the highest placement in Korean men's figure skating history. The following year he won the silver medal at the International Skating Union (ISU) World Championships, setting a new record as the first world championship medalist in Korean men's figure skating. Last year he won the gold medal at the Harbin Winter Asian Games, becoming the first Korean male figure skater to win gold.
Currently enrolled at Korea University and a member of the Seoul City Hall corporate team, Cha Jun-hwan is expected to broaden his entertainment industry activities significantly following his exclusive contract with Fantagio.
Fantagio, which signed an exclusive contract with Cha Jun-hwan, is a management company that represents artists such as Baek Yoon-sik, Kim Mi-hwa, Kim Doyeon, Choi Yoo-jung, Ong Seongwu, Kim Seon-ho, Cha Eun-woo, Yoon San-ha, Kang Ye-won, Gong Min-jung, Byun Woo-min, Lee Sung-kyoung, Lee Seyoung, Jung Da-bin, Lee Chang-seop and ASTRO. As a comprehensive entertainment company, it not only manages a wide range of artists from singers to actors but also produces dramas such as "Money Flower," "Doctor Prisoner," "Neighborhood Lawyer Jo Deul-ho 2: Crime and Punishment," "Blind," and "Mouse." With the addition of child actor–turned sports star Cha Jun-hwan, the artist pool including sport-tainers appears to have expanded further.
In particular, Fantagio currently represents actively performing actors such as Baek Yoon-sik, Kim Seon-ho, Lee Sung-kyoung and Lee Seyoung. This has raised expectations that Cha Jun-hwan could make a comeback from figure star to actor who started as a child actor. <
[Photo] OSEN DB.
[OSEN]