SEOUL — For more than a decade, South Korea’s “Infinite Challenge” made millions of viewers laugh. But years after the landmark variety show ended, some of its most recognizable stars are revealing just how difficult it could be to create those laughs week after week.
Haha, Jung Hyung-don and Jung Joon-ha have each spoken publicly about the anxiety, pressure and emotional strain they experienced during their years on MBC’s hit program. Their stories offer a striking look at the less visible side of Korean variety-show fame.
Haha: “My heart would start pounding” before filming
Haha recently revisited his “Infinite Challenge” years while appearing on KBS 2TV’s “Boss in the Mirror” on Sept. 6.
He described the pressure surrounding the show’s weekly Thursday recordings as so intense that his physical reactions would begin days beforehand.
According to Haha, his heart would start pounding from Tuesday evening as the next recording approached. Looking back, he said he believed he may have been experiencing panic disorder at the time.
The comedian also recalled turning to drinking after finishing Thursday recordings and said longtime “Infinite Challenge” host Yoo Jae-suk was concerned about him.
Haha credited the support of people around him — particularly Yoo Jae-suk and Park Myung-soo — with helping him continue through the difficult period.
His comments reveal how the show’s enormous popularity could also create a constant demand to perform at an exceptionally high level.
Jung Hyung-don’s struggle was different — but just as intense
Jung Hyung-don has previously been open about his anxiety during the height of “Infinite Challenge.”
He suspended his entertainment activities in 2015 because of health issues, including an anxiety disorder, and eventually left the program. In a more recent appearance on the Hawasu YouTube channel, he reflected on the months immediately following his departure.
Jung said he did not watch the program after leaving and described spending months away from his normal surroundings, including time in Australia.
He has also explained that the affection he received from viewers became another source of pressure.
In a 2024 appearance with psychiatrist Oh Eun-young, Jung described fearing that his popularity could disappear if audiences discovered that he was not as talented as they believed.
That pressure, he said, created a feeling that he constantly had to prove himself.
Jung Joon-ha describes a 13-year cycle of pressure
Jung Joon-ha has offered perhaps the clearest description of the show’s weekly emotional roller coaster.
Appearing on the YouTube channel “Alddaldalhan Chamgyeon” in August, Jung said a successful Thursday recording could leave him feeling happy for an entire week.
But if a performance went badly, the mood could change quickly.
He described deliberately going out with his parents rather than watching the broadcast, only for the anxiety to return as the next recording approached.
By Wednesday, he said, he could not sleep — a cycle he described as continuing throughout his 13 years associated with the program.
The hidden cost of a Korean TV phenomenon
“Infinite Challenge” was far more than an ordinary variety program.
The show ran for more than a decade and became a landmark of Korean entertainment before ending in 2018. Its cast members became household names, while its unconventional challenges and unscripted comedy helped shape the country’s modern variety-TV landscape.
But the show’s success also meant that its performers were expected to repeatedly deliver memorable moments.
The recent revelations from Haha, Jung Hyung-don and Jung Joon-ha suggest that the pressure was not simply about appearing on television. It could extend into the days between recordings, affecting their sleep, mood and sense of confidence.
Their accounts also show why entertainment success can look very different from the inside.
A different way to remember “Infinite Challenge”
For fans who remember the program primarily through its outrageous challenges, running jokes and unforgettable cast chemistry, these stories add another layer to its legacy.
They do not erase the show’s achievements. Instead, they show what audiences rarely saw: the uncertainty and pressure that could exist behind a seemingly effortless performance.
Jung Hyung-don once described “Infinite Challenge” as both the hardest period of his life and one of its brightest and most beautiful chapters.
That contradiction may ultimately explain why the program remains so memorable.
Behind the laughter were performers trying to meet enormous expectations — and, years later, they are finally giving viewers a glimpse of what that pressure really felt like.
Leave a Reply