(Following interview ①) YouTuber Choi Gogi (real name Choi Beom-gyu) revealed his love story with his girlfriend Lee Joo-eun.
Choi Gogi met with OSEN at a cafe in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, on the 25th for an interview.
On that day, Choi Gogi said of Lee Joo-eun, who is three years younger and was revealed through TV CHOSUN's "X's private life," "She currently films my YouTube videos for me and gives me ideas and such. Right now she is working part-time, but she used to be a salon director. She did eyelash extensions and perms, but it was hard and she had many things she wanted to do, so she quit," and "Now she studies a lot while attending bakery school and one-day classes, and we go eat bread together. Later she said her dream is to open a cafe. We are saving money together to make that dream come true," he said.
Earlier, Choi Gogi married YouTuber Yu Kkaet-ip in 2016 and they had a daughter, Sol-ip, but they divorced in 2020 due to personality differences, and he has been raising their daughter Sol-ip alone. They appeared together on TV CHOSUN's 'We Got Divorced,' which ended in 2021, raising hopes of reconciliation, but Choi Gogi met Lee Joo-eun in 2022 and developed a new love. Choi Gogi recounted their first meeting: "She liked my heart first, and then I sent a DM because I liked her. We messaged and talked, and our conversation fit well. Our chemistry matched so I asked, 'Shall we have a meal together?' We met in Hongdae and dated," he said.
But originally she had no intention of revealing her face at all. Having been divorced once already, he said, "I thought I should be careful now and consider her position, so I planned to continue (YouTube) alone," he said. Then, as they lived together, he thought about marriage, and they promised things like, "If we spend more time together and later get married, we'll make it public," and, "We'll think carefully, reveal it, and then be active on YouTube later." Choi Gogi explained, "Actually, if you make it public without marrying, who knows what could happen. Then suddenly last November we got an offer to appear on 'X's private life' and we decided to reveal it."
He said that although they had not shown it directly until now, Choi Gogi and Lee Joo-eun have lived together since early in their relationship. Choi Gogi said, "We actually lived together at home continuously. Many people didn't know. Some say we didn't live together so how could we suddenly get married. But we lived together for five years. In fact, it was longer than married life. So Joo-eun was always feeling wronged," he confessed.
When asked whether Lee Joo-eun felt any burden about appearing on TV programs, he said, "I really like my girlfriend's mother. I sometimes contact her, and she seems like a wakeful person. She watches with an open mind. When I first met her, it was when Joo-eun had retinal detachment surgery. She couldn't see, so I kept watching over her. It got so hard that I contacted her mother, and at that time her mother learned of my existence. Joo-eun introduced me and said there was also a child, and her mother said, 'A man raising a child alone?' and told her to 'meet him well.' She looked upon me very favorably. She said I'm much better than someone who hasn't raised a child, and that one remark made me really grateful. I felt compensated, and from then I thought I really have to do well," he said.
He continued, "Joo-eun is the type to worry a lot. Her MBTI is INFP. She worried about what would happen if malicious comments were posted, so I told her, 'It's okay. If you don't want to go out, you don't have to. Don't feel too pressured.' Then she called her mother. After hearing that, her mother said, 'Since you're going to keep dating, help your boyfriend with his work.' Hearing that made her make up her mind right away. Her mother said, 'Since it's his work, help him.' Hearing someone say that as if it's not about the surrounding circumstances but about my work, I thought, 'How can such a person exist in the world?' I'm still grateful," he said, expressing his emotion toward his future mother-in-law.
In particular, on the broadcast Lee Joo-eun moved viewers by wholeheartedly caring for Sol-ip, the daughter of ex-wife Yu Kkaet-ip. Choi Gogi said, "At first we had many conversations about that. Joo-eun actually first met Sol-ip when she was 7 and 5 by Korean age. It was naturally hard since she saw her then. Even though it was hard for both of them, I had experience, so I strongly felt we shouldn't behave that way. When Joo-eun said, 'I'm having a hard time,' some people say, 'What's so hard about that,' or 'Let's endure it a little,' while others say, 'I understand, take a break,' and are understanding. While there are those types, I always said, 'I hope you rest, I'll do it,' which in hindsight seems like a very good choice," he reflected.
He said, "Honestly, in the past I probably couldn't have said that either. Meeting Joo-eun made me read a lot of books. I read and nourished my mind, walked around, and thought, 'Even if I don't earn money, let's live peacefully,' and I broadened my mind. Then the world really looked different. In the past I always lived saying, 'money, money,' but seeing that changed how I accept it when Joo-eun talks about being tired or unwell," he said.
He said Lee Joo-eun had a big influence on his positive inner growth. He said, "Because Joo-eun treated me that way, I changed like this. She made many things better. When she met me it was during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it was really hard. I caught COVID once, and after getting it my body wouldn't move. That was the first time I felt my body wouldn't move and that I was depressed. My tension didn't rise. That was the first person to care for me like that. She said it was okay, suppressed a lot of my depressive feelings, and took care of me. It was really hard. I thought I had depression. If it weren't for that friend, I might have ended up saying bad things about myself," he said of the serious situation.
He continued, "I really like working a lot. I enjoy making money, so I love editing in front of the computer. Since I used to do game broadcasts, uploads were scheduled, but with a child who might wake up at night during growth spurts, I couldn't focus on broadcasts or record well. After I quit broadcasting I felt very down. I couldn't scold or say anything to the child, so burnout and depression came. Joo-eun helped me get through that. She always said, 'Rest when you should rest,' 'Don't think too deeply. A time will come when things get better.' I thought, 'If you work hard you'll succeed; waiting doesn't bring results,' but that's not true. Thanks to Joo-eun I learned to rest when I should, find stability, and take things more leisurely. She's a good person," he said, expressing gratitude.
Perhaps because of that temperament, she was also adept at raising Sol-ip. Choi Gogi said, "These days I was totally a 'ssapT' in current terms. But thanks to Joo-eun I learned a lot about emotions and really learned a lot about empathy. I'm someone who always thinks from my own perspective, but Joo-eun taught me a lot. From my standpoint, she is an angel," and said, "If I had raised Sol-ip, she might have grown up very rough. There are still such aspects, but when you watch the broadcasts she also talks about her inner feelings. Of course I taught some of that, but Joo-eun played a bigger role. Her parenting method was different from mine, but I let her do it the way she wanted to teach. When she said, '(Because Sol-ip) calls you mom, do as you see fit,' she educated in her own way. Watching that, I think Sol-ip learned," he said.
In fact, Sol-ip called her birth mother Yu Kkaet-ip 'Yerin mom' and Lee Joo-eun 'Joo-eun mom.' When asked how Sol-ip came to use the term 'mom' for Lee Joo-eun, Choi Gogi explained, "Living together, she called her 'mom.' I was surprised when I saw that and talked a lot with Joo-eun a few days later. Originally she was 'aunt.' Her nickname was 'Hachuuping aunt.' Because she liked Heartsping, she gave Heartsping dolls and such as gifts. Then suddenly she came during a meal and happily said, 'Mom.' A few days later when we asked why she wanted to call her mom, she said, 'I want to call her mom,' so we said, 'If you want to call her that, you can,'" he explained.
When asked whether Lee Joo-eun would continue to appear together on the parenting channel Choi Gogi operates in the future, he said, "I think it would be good if she appeared together. Kkaet-ip said she was stressed because of work, so I will try not to let Joo-eun feel too much stress. Fortunately Joo-eun also likes being noticed," he said. (Continued in interview ③)
[Photo] Choi Gogi SNS, TV CHOSUN
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