Netizens had mixed responses.
Koreaboo
2 hours ago
Recently, former I-LAND contestant Daniel, also known as Kyu, broke his silence on the trauma he endured during the survival program.
Former I-Land contestant Daniel breaks his silence on the Trauma he faced on the survival show.
He stated he was 14 at the time and they wouldnt let him call his parents and cut off all contact,so he would cry in his closet.He also stated cameras where rolling 24/7 for 3months. pic.twitter.com/rbJti931CT
— Boygroups Media (@kbgmedia) August 20, 2026
“I don’t know where to start this, but K-Pop f*cked me up. Most people probably know me from the program ‘I-LAND’. Some might know me as a problematic kid.
I was like 13-14 at that time, I was in the show. I feel like that’s when I learned about life for the first time. It was actually crazy for me because that show kind of made me famous. The first reason I went on that show was because I wanted to be famous. I wanted to be someone else, a singer. That’s the main reason why I got into the show. I dont’ know, it gave me trauma.
We were in a studio for three whole months. It was a massive studio. and it was dusty as f*ck. They wouldn’t even let me call my parents. While I was on the show, I missed my parents so bad. I couldn’t even get like any contact from my parents. But once I had like a panic attack. I was in the training room, and the camera was rolling 24/7. My body just stopped and I don’t know why but I was just crying. I just ran into the closet and crawled inside the clothes. I heard the footsteps and he was a part of team. He just hugged me and said, ’The adults are sorry’. That really helped me a lot. There were no adults who spoke to me like that. It’s a very viral program so everyone was lke very ’spikey’.
They just started sh*t-talking about my parents and everyone. Bro, I was 14. I was kind of stunned to hear that and there was a lot more. I was still the youngest…I was too young, I was a kid. Somehow I got into the finals, and when I got out of the show and I went to school and everyone knew me. Even on the street they were asking me for pictures and everything. It was a lot for me back then.”
— Daniel
However, netizens expressed divided reactions with some blaming the parents, while others felt he was talking about it again for publicity for his upcoming music.