Can a ship that has once sunk float again? A sunken ship is finished, but a celebrity's vitality is different. After several crises many recover, and there are not infrequent cases where a star who seemed to have received a death sentence because of a major accident, crime or a stigma of being disliked has miraculously been resurrected after twists and turns. What about Lee Hwi-jae?
His heyday has clearly passed. That said, he is still in the prime of life, so talking about retirement seems premature. Unlike some who were involved in heinous crimes, his case involves a series of relatively minor incidents that eroded his image. Once he rose to the very top and for a long time did not drop out of the domestic top five MC list, but Lee Hwi-jae now has an almost faint presence.
His debut is known to have been in 1992 through MBC weekend variety show 'Sunday Sunday Night'. At the time the popularity of 'Ilbam' was absolute. It was a popular variety show that dominated living rooms on holiday evenings, and from there Lee Hwi-jae began to rise with his handsome looks, sparkling wit and sensible banter. From that time for almost 30 years, amid the many comedians who rose and fell, Lee Hwi-jae, along with Yu Jae-seok, Kang Ho-dong and Shin Dong-yeob, never left the summit.
Especially on KBS2 The Return of SUPERMAN he received explosive love for showing himself raising his twin sons Seo-eon and Seo-jun, and in 2015 he won that year's KBS Entertainment Awards, putting his entire family among Korea's stars.
When the body blows accumulate a boxer eventually goes into the groggy state. Afterwards Lee Hwi-jae became embroiled in frequent controversies over incidents that ate away at fans' affection and gradually sank into a swamp of being disliked. For an MC leading a variety show, an unfavorable image is poison and more than that. That is why when he went to Canada in 2023 with his family whispers of escape or retirement poured in.
At the time his agency Cube Entertainment Corp. said of Lee Hwi-jae's trip to Canada, "It was a plan prepared long ago, and since he was arranging his shows for the trip he happened to have time," and it was reported that Lee Hwi-jae himself said he had not properly rested in 30 years and decided to travel to spend precious time with his family.
The family trip lasted much longer than originally expected, and beyond washing away the unfavorable image he ended up falling far outside the public's sphere of interest. His difficult return to the domestic broadcasting world was already five months ago. In April he made a one-off appearance on KBS 2TV Immortal Songs, showing his face. For broadcasting insiders it may have been a stage to gauge whether they could use Lee Hwi-jae again. Public backlash has faded, but so has the buzz. For a celebrity who lives off popularity, especially for a variety MC whose audience response is crucial, it was not a green light.
And Lee Hwi-jae's silent retreat continues. Jung jun-ha, formerly of Infinite Challenge, recently revealed on his YouTube channel that he once worked as Lee Hwi-jae's manager and said, "Lee Hwi-jae was the best of his time." Having received high praise from a junior comedian, can Lee Hwi-jae truly make a dazzling comeback?
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