A survival show is one of the common ways to create an idol group that will debut in the K-pop industry. Any fan knows that in the process only selected trainees/contestants get to debut while the others get eliminated. Every elimination can be incredibly heartbreaking not only to the contestants but also to the fans cheering on them. However, there are cases wherein eliminated trainees are given another chance to debut, such as the ones below who are now all K-pop idols.

5+ Idols Who Were Eliminated From K-pop Survival Shows But Was Later Added to Debut Lineup

TWICE Momo

Momo Hirai is probably one of the most popular idols who was eliminated from a K-pop survival show when she was still a trainee, and yet she ended up debuting as a member of TWICE.

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For starters, Momo participated in JYP Entertainment's 2015 girl group survival show "SIXTEEN," along with the company's other trainees (including the current TWICE members). She was unfortunately eliminated from the program in episode 6, but she was added to the debut lineup in the final episode.

J.Y. Park chose Momo as the last TWICE member as he saw a side in her that the other members don't possess- her dancing and performance skills. He believed that those skills would complete the girl group. Momo then ended up becoming the main dancer of the band.

Stray Kids Lee Know and Felix

Next, we have Lee Know and Felix, who are part of the dance line of Stray Kids. These two were actually originally eliminated from JYP Entertainment's 2017 reality show "Stray Kids."

In particular, Lee Know was eliminated in episode 4 after the second mission, wherein the nine trainees were divided into three groups and had to perform different songs made by them.

READ MORE: These 7 Idols Re-Debuted Under New Groups After Winning in Survival Shows

Felix, on the other hand, lasted only until episode 8. His elimination came after the team held a busking event in Sinchon where they performed their self-composed songs.

But in episode 9, J.Y. Park met up with Felix and Lee Know and gave them another chance to be part of the group he was creating (which is now called Stray Kids). Fortunately, the two did get to debut, as J.Y. Park said that their expressions on stage are alive when there are nine members.

TREASURE Members

TREASURE is another boy group formed through a K-pop survival show, called "YG TREASURE BOX." Fans are surely aware that TREASURE was initially planned to debut with only seven members and not 12. The initial debut lineup consisted of Haruto, Yedam, Junghwan, Junkyu, Jeongwoo, Jaehyuk, and Hyunsuk.

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But because of the immense demands of fans to debut the eliminated contestants, YG Entertainment decided to launch another group called MAGNUM. The eliminated YG trainees who were later added to the debut lineup are Ha Yoonbin, Doyoung, Jihoon, Mashiho, Asahi, Doyoung, and Yoshinori.

The two teams would be collectively called TREASURE13. Sadly, Yoonbin left the company. As a result, MAGNUM was combined with TREASURE, and all 12 chosen trainees went on to debut as TREASURE.

ATBO Wonbin

ATBO Wonbin is another idol who was originally eliminated from a K-pop survival show but he still luckily managed to be part of the debut lineup.

Wonbin was eliminated in episode 5 of "THE ORIGIN - A, B, OR What?," but he ultimately debuted as an ATBO member as a replacement to Yang Donghwa who was removed from the group due to his past immature and inappropriate remarks and actions as a student.

IST Entertainment explained that Wonbin was chosen from the eliminated trainees as he received the highest score during evaluations.

Do you know other idols who were once eliminated in a K-pop survival show but still ended up being part of the debut lineup? Comment down below!

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Written by Maria Scott