Huh Yunjin From Le Sserafim on Her Crazy Pre-Debut Story, Almost Quitting K-Pop and Collabing With Katseye
There is a version of Huh Yunjin‘s life in which she is a college student right now. She had the acceptance letter. She had paid the deposit. She had spent the better part of two months applying to schools after years of grueling K-pop training in Korea had worn her down and she decided that it was time to try something else.
The call to join LE SSERAFIM came the next day.
“It literally felt like the stars were telling me where to go,” she says, sitting down for Variety’s “Up Next” podcast on what is, notably, her very first podcast ever. (“I love to yap,” she announces immediately, by way of explanation.) Within two weeks of that call, she was on a plane back to South Korea getting ready to debut.
That story, which she tells with the kind of good-humored disbelief that suggests she’s still a little amazed by it herself, has taken on new resonance this month. On June 12, 2026, LE SSERAFIM released “Iconic by Mistake,” a collaboration single with fellow HYBE girl groups KATSEYE and ILLIT — marking the first time K-pop girl groups have released an official song together without forming a supergroup. The track, a shot at the internet haters, debuted at No. 38 on the Billboard Hot 100. The success, it’s safe to say, is no mistake.
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The collaboration is part of a busy stretch for LE SSERAFIM, who released their second studio album “PUREFLOW Pt. 1” on May 22, 2026. The album began with Yunjin interviewing each of her members one-on-one. “The whole narrative started with us, and then we kind of worked around that.” A world tour with new stops in Washington D.C. and Florida is currently underway, and Yunjin has one firm request for the Florida leg: “To my manager, who’s watching, hopefully we can do Epcot.”
Yunjin, born in Seoul and raised in Wisconsin and upstate New York, was a creative kid from the start. She cycled through wanting to be a writer, a painter, an actor, then a stage performer, before landing on songwriting and music as the thing that finally stuck. She taught herself guitar and ukulele from YouTube videos, picking up Taylor Swift’s “15” on the sly from her dad’s old nylon-string classical guitar after watching her sister figure out chords the same way.
K-pop entered the picture for her in 2017, when BTS made history with their performance of “DNA” at the American Music Awards. For Yunjin, who had been navigating questions of identity as a young Korean American, watching that performance was a turning point. She moved to Korea alone at fifteen, tried training at a label for a month, went back to the States to start sophomore year, returned at sixteen, and stayed. In 2018, she competed on the Korean reality survival show “Produce 48” — where she met two of her future LE SSERAFIM members — before being eliminated on episode 11 at rank 26 and continuing to train. Her first dance teacher, assessing her coordination, nicknamed her “giraffe.” She has since outgrown the nickname considerably.
After four years of near-misses and no debut, the burnout caught up with her. She returned home to New York, applied to colleges in a two-month sprint, got in, paid the deposit, and made peace with a different future. Then her phone rang. “I can’t really let go of music,” she says of what she realized during those months away. “I can’t let go of this storytelling dream I have in me.” Two weeks later she was back in Korea making music with LE SSERAFIM.
“They truly are my sisters,” she says of her fellow members. “A lot of it is non-verbal. It’s just something that we feel.” For someone whose path to that sisterhood involved survival shows, multiple years of training, and a college deposit paid the day before her life changed, that feeling took a long time to find.
Her favorite film is “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” and while she believes there are versions of her in alternate universes out there living entirely different lives, she’s not losing sleep over them: “The life that I’m currently living now is the best version of me that there is.”
Watch the video here.
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Badenoch blasts 'moaning' female Labour MPs over Burnham jobs 'quota'
Kemi Badenoch has told Labour women to earn a job in Andy Burnham's Cabinet instead of demanding they are handed jobs because of their gender.
The Tory leader lashed out today amid reports that female MPs are demanding the de-facto new prime minister introduce a 50:50 gender split 'quota' in his government.
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister also complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts.
But in a scathing article in the Times today Mrs Badenoch told them to 'stop moaning' and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'.
'There are many, many reasons why you shouldn't have any Milibands in the cabinet,' she said.
'But complaining that the boys haven't given them the right jobs or that the boys are taking all the jobs, just shows that Labour's women still don't get it.'
The idea of quotas was also attacked by Baroness Jacqui Smith, Labour's Skills Minister.
Asked by Times Radio if Mr Burnham should reserve jobs for women, she said: 'No, I think what Andy Burnham should be doing is building the very best team around him to change this country.'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband (above, right, in 2010) is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts
But Mrs Badenoch told them to pipe down and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party and seen by the BBC has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs after he succeeds Sir Keir Starmer.
'We are asking you to demonstrate this change from day one and address the toxicity and misogyny within our own party and government,' it said.
Labour has never had a female leader, while the Conservatives have had three, and Mrs Badenoch urged the government to follow its meritocratic example.
'If you run a meritocracy, then you do not have to worry about jobs for the boys,' she wrote.
'Every woman who is a Conservative MP, every woman who has ever won the leadership, has had to fight to get where she is.
'By contrast, Labour women are demanding guarantees from Burnham. But the truth is he doesn't have to give any guarantees.
'If none of Labour's women are prepared to get their hands dirty and challenge him for the leadership, their demands are toothless.'
'In fact, it's quite revealing that the women's parliamentary Labour Party has written to Burnham asking him to commit himself to at least 50 per cent female ministers.
'This has nothing to do with meritocracy. It is yet more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country.'
Venezuela Fury and Noah Price subsidising their life by livestreaming
Venezuela Fury and her husband Noah Price look to be making their own way in the world by raking it in from their lucrative social media accounts.
The influencer daughter of Tyson and Paris Fury, 16, has become an internet sensation after tying the knot with her husband Noah, 19, earlier this year.
Since getting married and moving in together the couple have been earning thousands of pounds a month, livestreaming their life as newlyweds in their static caravan in the East Riding of Yorkshire.
And fans can't get enough of their regular life updates on TikTok and Kick, which have proved to be very profitable for the pair.
They look to be supporting themselves after Noah denied that he was given £5million by Venezuela's family as a wedding gift.
Despite his wife's huge family wealth, an estimated combined £160 million, Noah recently told his Kick followers that he 'pays for everything' for the couple.
Making light of the claims about Venezuela's millionaire financial status, Noah said: 'I actually pay for everything unfortunately. You'd expect the millionaire to pay for it wouldn't you.'
Venezuela Fury and Noah Price are earning thousands livestreaming their caravan life - after her new groom insisted he pays all the bills and denied he had £5m handout from her dad
The influencer daughter of Tyson and Paris Fury , 16, has become an internet sensation after tying the knot with her husband Noah, 19, earlier this year
Venezuela then asked their fans: 'Do you think I am a millionaire?'
Noah joked: 'She isn't a secret millionaire guys', before she broke into song and sang: 'But I live like a millionaire!'
But it seems according to estimated calculations from their social media work, Noah and Venezuela can more than afford to support themselves.
Noah has been livestreaming on platforms such as Kick and TikTok, where viewers can send paid gifts or donations.
He was previously encouraging viewers to send gifts on his honeymoon during livestreams, suggesting this is one revenue stream.
Both Noah and Venezuela have built substantial followings on Instagram and TikTok. They can potentially earn money through sponsored posts, brand collaborations, affiliate links and creator payouts.
Kick allows its creators to take home 95 per cent of the £4.99 subscription cost that fans pay.
Streamers keep 100 per cent of direct tips and donations, minus minor standard payment processing fees.
It is unclear how many subscribers Noah currently has because this information is hidden, but he does have 7,200 followers which is publicly viewable.
An industry insider has suggested Noah is making around £400 per video on TikTok, while Venezuela is likely to make £2,000 due to her following count of 1.3 million.
An industry insider has suggested Noah is making around £400 per video on TikTok, while Venezuela is likely to make £2,000 due to her following count of 1.3 million
In one video on their honeymoon, Noah asked his followers if they'd give them some more gifts now that they were married.
In a TikTok live viewed by 20,000 he said: 'Keep liking our videos people, keep sending gifts.'
After saying thank you to several of his followers he joked they should stick around on the livestream and 'watch Venezuela punch me in the mouth'.
The other half of the honeymooning couple said: 'I am, honestly!'
Noah previously confirmed that the pair don't share their finances after they were asked whether they have a shared bank account.
'She earns her money, I earn mine,' said Noah, as Venezuela joked: 'Yeah, what you gonna do about it.'
Noah went on to debunk the rumour that Tyson gave him £5million when he tied the knot with his daughter as he insisted: 'No Tyson did not give me £5million'.
Meanwhile Venezuela is being eyed up by executives for a fly on the wall TV series.
Noah went on to debunk the rumour that Tyson gave him £5million when he tied the knot with his daughter as he insisted: 'No Tyson did not give me £5million'
Boasting 1.3 million TikTok followers, Venezuela is already entertaining fans with her honest musings and candid moments, from cooking to kitting out her and Noah's static caravan home.
And following the success of the Netflix series At Home With The Furys, it is no wonder bosses are wanting to draw on the Fury popularity.
A TV insider said: 'The couple are not A-list celebrities but everyone has become obsessed with their love story.
'People are genuinely intrigued by them. Whether it’s the fact they have married so young, Venezuela’s famous family or their gypsy lifestyle, they have the ‘X factor'.
'Several TV executives think a proper fly-on-the-wall series following their lives as newlyweds in the gypsy community would be fascinating,' they told The Sun.
It is thought Netflix would be likely to produce the series due to their already established relationship with the Furys.
Venezuela's representatives told The Daily Mail: 'We have many offers on the table regarding Venezuela which we are discussing.'
