GOSSIP & RUMORS: What K-pop star HyunA has revealed about her health

K-pop fans panicked this week when HyunA collapsed on stage at a music festival in Macau, China.

The 33-year-old singer was performing her 2011 hit song “Bubble Pop.” She was dramatically carried off stage, later apologizing to fans on Instagram.

“I’m sorry for not being able to perform as professionally as I wanted to. Honestly, I don’t remember anything,” HyunA, whose real name is Kim Hyun-ah, wrote in Korean after Sunday’s incident.

She continued: “Many fans from Macao came [to see the performance], and of course, my fans too. Everyone came all the way to Macao, and I’m so sorry. I’ll improve my stamina and continue giving my best.”

This isn’t the first medical emergency HyunA has endured. Here’s a look at the health challenges she has overcome in recent years.

Weight loss

Before her collapse, HyunA revealed the effects of her extreme diet.

She shared a carousel of photos, including an image of a scale, on her Instagram page on Nov. 4. The picture, which features her injured feet, shows her weight as 49.88 kilograms, roughly 110 pounds.

In the caption, HyunA said she still had a “long way to go” to make it to her ideal weight.

The songstress, who is 5 feet, 5 inches tall, also seemingly joked in the comments about “changing the first digit of her weight,” leading fans to question if she was referring to losing 10 kg (approximately 20 pounds) in one month.

HyunA has been open about her struggles with disordered eating.

She previously confessed to eating just one piece of sushi a day in an effort to keep her weight below 40 kg (88 pounds).

“Back then, I’d survive on a single piece of kimbap while pushing through all the scheduled activities. And that destroyed me. By 26, I was so unhealthy,” she revealed on the program B-Season. 

On the Korean talk show “Point of Omniscient Interfere,” she admitted there were times she would go a whole week without eating.

Fainting

In addition to her disordered eating, HyunA has a history of collapsing.

She was diagnosed with vasovagal syncope, a condition that causes a sudden drop in heart rate and blood pressure that can lead to a temporary loss of consciousness.

HyunA reportedly fainted several times in 2020 while filming for her album “I’m Not Cool” and again while shooting the video for the 2021 song “Ping Pong.”

Vasovagal syncope is triggered by emotional distress, fatigue, dehydration and/or rapid weight loss.

At the time of her diagnosis, she shared, “I collapsed 12 times in a month because I wanted to perform well on stage.”

HyunA has previously disclosed that she’s prone to collapsing when her weight falls below 45 kg, or 99 pounds.

In a letter shared with her 16 million Instagram followers in 2019, the singer spoke about hiding her vasovagal syncope diagnosis due to fear of losing career opportunities.

“I wanted to be on stage, but I was worried that if I kept falling down like this often, if people knew that I’m sick, then maybe people wouldn’t want to have me perform,” she said.

“Since I was worried about that, I didn’t want to tell anyone. I wanted to keep my secret for a long time, but whenever I would fall down, I’d feel anxious on my own, and I felt so sorry.”

Mental health

In the 2019 letter, HyunA revealed that she was also coming to terms with being diagnosed with depression and panic disorder.

“I was someone who had always been so tough, so I couldn’t believe the diagnosis of depression and panic disorder. I think I didn’t believe it for a year,” she wrote.

She shared that at the time, she was receiving natural treatment for these conditions every other week and trying “not to think of it as something ‘bad.’”

Last year, she told People magazine that she was afraid that revealing her mental health struggles would cause supporters to “leave and forget” about her.

However, knowing she has fans who might be experiencing similar issues convinced her to speak out.

“That’s when I decided to be honest and speak about this. After that, I felt more responsibility and obligation to think more about my own health and those who have the same symptoms as me,” she explained.

“It gave them power to see that, ‘Oh, we are in the same situation, but she’s trying to do her thing and inspiring herself.’”

South Korea is notorious for having some of the world’s most punishing beauty standards. Data indicates that about 1 in 3 women aged 19 to 29 in South Korea have undergone plastic surgery.

The unrealistic beauty standards in the country have sparked backlash, particularly from feminist groups.