\Kim Hee-chul is a popular South Korean singer and actor. He is best known for being a member of the popular K-pop boy band Super Junior and its subgroup Super Junior-T.
He became a member of the first generation of Super Junior following an audition for Starlight Casting System in 2002. Know more about him here!
Kim Hee-chul Broke Up With Twice’s Momo
The well-known K-pop stars Kim Hee-chul and Momo have broken up after more than a year of going public with their relationship.
Soompi reported on 8 July 2021 that the artists’ agencies, Label SJ and JYP Entertainment, confirmed the split.
“We’ve checked with the artist, and it is true that they broke up,” the agencies said in a statement published in the report of Soompi. Hee-chul’s agency also asked the media and the public to “understand that we cannot answer the details of it as it is the artist’s private life.”
According to a source’s report to the media, they said, “From what I know, they drifted apart due to their busy schedules, so they ended their romantic relationship, and returned to being colleagues and having a senior-and-junior relationship.”
The duo was rumored to be dating since 2019 and later acknowledged their relationship among the public on 2 January last year.
Dating Life Of Kim Hee-chul
The former couple, Kim Hee-chul and Momo, received widespread attention for overcoming their age gap and different nationalities. Kim, 37, is Korean, while Momo – whose full name is Momo Hirai – is a 24-year-old Japanese.
While the actual date of when the couple started dating is unknown, according to reports, the couple started meeting as sunbae-hoobae (senior-junior), and Hee-chul has also shared pictures of the two on social media. Fans have also dug out old pictures to claim that Hee-chul is a friend of Momo’s parents as they all crossed paths in the Twiceland Seoul concert on Day 3 in 2018.
Kim Hee-chul with TWICE's Momo (©:AllKpop)
After going public with their relationship, they came to the K-pop media’s spotlight for being a couple who overcame their age gap for romance. But Kim felt a touch of guilt with all that was forthcoming to him afterward. “When this issue came up, the public and my fans were saying, ‘it’s OK. You have been going strong without getting into any scandals. We support you,’ and this made me feel guilty in some sense,” he said.
“I don’t know if I deserve such overwhelming love that fans gave me… I even thought I might not be the best fit to be a celebrity.” And he even disclosed stopping the production of a romantic solo album from avoiding any misunderstandings at the time.
Hee-chul has a great time on JTBC’s variety show Knowing Brothers on the episode of 5 June 2021 while which come to an interesting discussion around his relationship. The second episode of the special at Dormitory featured the Super Junior band members. In the show, when the four were setting the rules for the dorm. Super Junior’s Min Kyung Hoon to Hee-chul said, “Don’t bring your girlfriend.” And Shindong chipped in and asked, “You’re not going to bring her?” However, Hee-chul was taken aback as he said, “I’m…”
The former couple was also rumored on whether their relationship will reach the level of marriage, considering Kim’s mother wanted him to settle down with the married bliss at the earliest. He later explained that he could not marry then because he had to keep moving forward in his idol life for the fans who had stuck with him since his debut.
He also made an interesting comment about marriage, saying, “I feel the trend these days is not to get married… I also have no thoughts about getting married,” he was quoted saying by Allkpop in the teaser.
Hee-chul and Momo first denied any dating rumors while the outlets asked about it to them. However, on 2 January 2020, their agencies, Label SJ and JYP Entertainment, confirmed the news, saying that the couple developed a romantic relationship out of a close senior-junior friendship in the entertainment industry. The couple reportedly became close after appearing together in a television show in 2017. The rumors of them dating took the surface when Kim posted a short clip of them together doing some lovely hand poses in November 2019.
Since news broke of Hee-chul and Momo’s relationship, one of their fans tweeted, “When Idol fanboys dance to Signal and go jiirriit jiiriit, then ended up dating a TWICE member,” alongside a photo of Super Junior performing the choreography to TWICE’s Signal. But unfortunately, their relationship seems to have hit the end, as they called it quits recently.
Besides, Hee-chul has been reported to have linked with several women, including a report of him having a special someone for a couple of years, but he or his agency never disclosed the girl's identity. He was also rumored to be in a relationship with a model named Ivy and was also previously linked with Taeyeon from Girls’ Generation in 2013.
YOU MAY LIKE: Check Out Among TWICE Members, Who Are Dating With Whom
Hee-chul was also once caught holding hands with a girl named Yerim; however, later, it revealed that she is not his girlfriend but only a co-star in a film. Although he is frequently linked with several women, Hee-chul remained secretive about his personal relationship but always wished the best of the life for his exes, as he shared during an appearance in the March episode of KBS Joy’s 20th Century Hit Song.
Kim Hee-chul Net Worth And His Career Details
Though Kim Hee-chul remains quite popular in the entertainment industry and earns lots of cash, his net worth is still on the review. However, his ex-girlfriend Momo is estimated to have a net worth of approximately $1 million as of this report.
Kim Hee-chul first auditioned to become a singer through the Starlight Casting System in October 2002 and was initially placed in a four-member group called “Four Seasons” along with Jaejoong, Yunho, and Kangin. Hee-chul and Kangin later joined TNE, other trainees under SM Entertainment, to form a group Super Junior 05, the first generation of Super Junior, in December 2005.
He also debuted as an actor in teen drama Sharp 2 alongside bandmate Kinum in 2005 before the debut of Super Junior. Following this, he appeared in an episode of the series Loveholic and was a regular MC for the cable music show Show! Music Bank Tank. He also appeared on entertainment programs such as Heroine 6.
In November 2005, Super Junior 05 made their official debut as a twelve-member group on SBS’s Popular Songs, performing their first single TWINS. Their debut album Super Junior05 (Twins) was released on December 5 and debuted at #3 on the monthly MIAK K-pop album charts. Following the addition of thirteenth member Kyuhyun, the group dropped the suffix 05 and became officially credited as Super Junior.
However, later in 2009, Heechul became depressive due to the lawsuit between SM Entertainment and Han Geng, leading to Han’s departure from the company and the group, which Heechul considered his best friend. He returned as a radio DJ for the first time in four years on SBS’s Heechul’s Young Street from 29 March 2010 until mid-2011.
In 2011, he formed a project group with label mate Jungmo of TRAX called M&D (meaning Midnight and Dawn, after the members’ hometowns). In June, they released their debut single, Close Ur Mouth, to which Heechul wrote the lyrics and directed the music video for the song. He was also included in a celebrity team for a competition of the game League of Legends (LoL) in February 2015 sponsored by the famous LoL team SK Telecom T1 and also has featured himself in other games as a professional player of LoL as well.
Heechul has been credited to several of the music, including some collaborations like Breakups Are So Like Me (with Kim Jang-hoon) and Sweet Dream (with Min Kyung-hoon), OSTs like Can it Be Love? (with Kibum) and First Stars, and such.
Other than that, he has had a great acting career appearing on films and TV shows, including Attack on the Pin-Up Boys, Super Show 3 3D, Familyhood, Rainbow Romance, Bad Family, Golden Bride, Loving You a Thousand Times, The Heirs, 8 vs. 1, To Be Kangin And Heechul, Family Outing 2, Radio Star, We Got Married Global Edition, and much more. He has also made some appearances on radio shows like Young Street Radio, Heechul’s Young Street, Kim Heechul’s SungDong Café, and Super Junior’s Kiss The Radio.
Who Is Kim Hee-chul?
Kim Hee-chul was born on 10 July 1983 in Hoengseong, Gangwon, South Korea. He has turned 38 with this year’s birthday celebration. His mother owns a wine store though her name is not known. He has one sibling, an older sister named Kim Heejin.
In August of 2006, Heechul was involved in a car accident while driving back from the funeral for Donghae’s father. He had to have metal rods placed in his leg to recover. His leg still causes him pain, so he can’t dance a lot.
Regarding his educational background, he received a bachelor’s degree from Sangji Youngsoe College English tourism translation. He also graduated from Sangji University.
The singer stands at the height of 5 ft 9 in or 1.76 m. He weighs around 60 kg or 132 lbs with a slim body appearance.