They had to stick to a curated image.
6 minutes ago
Among the many unusual characteristics of K-Pop, the phenomenon of an idol or a group debuting with a specific “concept” or image is pretty common. Many idols, in the later stages of their careers, have talked about having to stick to a company-given persona on camera, even during off-stage moments, regardless of whether it clashes with their real personality.
According to TXT member Beomgyu, his group was one such case.
Beomgyu | @bamgyuuuu/Instagram
During his recent appearance on the MBC variety show, Radio Star, Beomgyu talked about TXT’s tame personality during their debut days, revealing that it was a synthetically constructed image they were asked to portray by their label, BIGHIT MUSIC.
Beomgyu explained that when TXT debuted, BIGHIT told the members they had to maintain a “prince”-like image and were therefore forbidden from doing things like aegyo (acting cute) even when they appeared on variety shows. However, having to adhere to such restrictions made viewers label TXT as a “boring” group.
Beomgyu recalled that during a certain TV appearance, he tried to act cute and show his personality, but got into trouble with the management for it. Even if he tried to sneak in humorous or cute moments, all his scenes would get cut in post-production.
Despite the strategy backfiring, BIGHIT supposedly didn’t go easy on this rule until the group made them. Beomgyu revealed that once the members started doing livestreams, they decided that they would defy the label and show their real personalities, since it could not be censored in post-production. Eventually, BIGHIT gave in, and the public was finally able to see the real personalities of TXT.
This revelation has sparked intense reactions from fans, many of whom found the restrictions absurd, especially given the label’s inability to build any “prince”-like image for the group in the first place.
the prince image in question https://t.co/1awGVidkrs pic.twitter.com/oijnxismoZ
— gelatin (@fluffyeonbin) May 6, 2026
i seriously have no idea what the fuck was bighit expecting them to do when they handed txt this concept . “dont act cute” ???? their debut itself is the embodiment of cute and youthful 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/qK21KJhcXw https://t.co/0OBDiXtiQr
— 🐈 hailee fan (@5poohs) May 6, 2026
you can tell from the way they edited the early to do episodes too they wouldn’t let them be funny at all 😭 their marketing team was clueless from day one https://t.co/YeXXVCN9zl
— noa (@lpsoob) May 6, 2026
was this the prince image bighit had in mind https://t.co/HV6KKrNTC4 pic.twitter.com/LgMqVWnOvX
— ً (@mideuzip) May 6, 2026
Still don’t understand, how bighit push the prince image agenda for txt, but dressed them like a losers 😭
Is the prince image in the same room with us??? https://t.co/vTXA2amAAZ pic.twitter.com/3UQA4QFuGJ
— ⋆. ݁⭒ʕ•ᴥ•𐙚 ·—̳͟͞͞♡ ˖ִ˚ * (@strangers304) May 6, 2026
TXT