3 K-Pop Idols Who Love Spicy Food And 3 Who Can’t Handle The Heat 

Can your favorite K-Pop idol withstand the spice?

When it comes to cuisine, spicy food will always be a hot topic. Some people can eat spicy peppers with ease, while others might break a sweat at the sight of hot sauce.

In the world of K-Pop, through travel programs, vlogs, and variety shows, idols often test their spice tolerance in order to see who can best handle the heat. Here are three idols who can effortlessly eat spicy food, and three whose tastebuds aren’t up to the challenge.

First up, here are three idols who love to eat spicy food or could at least withstand it.

1. ATEEZ’s Wooyoung

Wooyoung put his spice tolerance to the test by taking on Paqui‘s One Chip Challenge.

In the seventh episode of hello82‘s 82Challenge YouTube series, the eight ATEEZ members split into teams of two, where one teammate ate the heat-packed chip while the other raced to order a cup of ice cream in English within 82 seconds.

Video thumbnail for “ATEEZ Tries the One Chip Challenge” | hello82/YouTube

While game partner San prepared to run into the ice cream parlor, Wooyoung silently took a bite of the dark red chip…

…yet still managed to keep an unbothered expression.

The other members applauded Wooyoung for his cool composure.

Afterwards, Wooyoung was even willing to share his precious spice-relieving ice cream with San.

2. LABOUM’s Solbin

LABOUM‘s Solbin is the queen of spicy food! On an episode of tvN D Entertainment‘s food series One Pick Road, she took a trip to OnJeong Tonkatsu, a restaurant in Seoul famous for their spicy pork cutlet challenge.

Video thumbnail for “Sol Bin’s Crazy Dying Spicy Katsu MUKBANG” | tvN D ENT/YouTube

In order to pass the challenge, a person must finish their bright red pork cutlet plate in 20 minutes or less.

After the suspense of seeing the numerous health disclaimers and warnings posted on notes around the store, Solbin took a bite!

OnJeong’s Tonkatsu’s health disclaimers for their spicy pork cutlet challenge | tvN D ENT/YouTube

Rather than tasting the spice, Solbin immediately commented on how sweet the sauce was.

The restaurant staff was shocked to see Solbin complete the challenge with such ease.

3. 2NE1’s CL

In 2021, 2NE1‘s CL was a featured guest in an episode of YouTube channel First We Feast‘s “Hot Ones” series.

Video thumbnail for “CL Gets Extra Spicy While Eating Spicy Wings” | First We Feast/YouTube

Host Sean Evans asked CL interview questions as she ate fried chicken wings topped with increasingly spicy levels of hot sauce.

While she admitted that she normally isn’t good with spicy food, she makes an exception for hot sauce.

As the hot sauces became hotter, CL got a bit teary eyed, but she finished the 20+ minutes of questions with poise. Props to you, CL!

Next, here are three brave idols who attempted to eat spicy food, but ultimately failed.

1. TXT’s Yeonjun

Sometimes taking a bite of your friend’s food isn’t worth it. At least, that’s the lesson that Yeonjun learned in one episode of TXT‘s “T:TIME YouTube vlogs.

TXT’s Yeonjun frowns in “[T:TIME] Spicy Sauce Challenge” | TOMORROW X TOGETHER OFFICIAL/YouTube
In the video, a curious Yeonjun walked in after seeing fellow member Taehyun about to eat his meal.

Yeonjun sealed his fate when he asked for a spoon of the chicken rice bowl topped with plenty of Chinese mala sauce.

TXT’s Taehyun’s mala sauce chicken rice bowl | TOMORROW X TOGETHER OFFICIAL/YouTube

The food immediately proved to be too much for Yeonjun as he frowned and frantically searched for the nearest water bottle before fleeing the scene altogether.

2. Blackpink’s Rosé

During an online broadcast, the Blackpink members sat around a dining room table to eat a meal of tteokbokki (Korean spicy rice cakes) and other dishes.

After one bite, Rosé began to panic while reaching for a napkin and her beverage to weaken the spice.

With surprised eyes, she yelled “It’s spicy”, “I’m crying it’s spicy”, and “this is the first time it’s been this spicy”, each time in increasing urgency.

Even though Rosé doesn’t like the spiciness of tteokbokki, it doesn’t stop her from eating the dish.

In a clip from episode 233 of KOCOWA TV‘s My Little Old Boy, she mentioned that she rubs off the sauce coated on the rice cakes on a paper cup or bowl to avoid fiery pain while eating.

If you also struggle with eating spicy food, maybe you should give Rosé’s hack a try!

3. SEVENTEEN’s Hoshi

Hoshi gave viewers the most hilarious reaction to eating tteokbokki during the fourth episode of SEVENTEEN: The Ranking Is Up To Me.

Video thumbnail for episode four of SEVENTEEN: The Ranking Is Up To Me | CARATS SEVENTEEN/YouTube

During the episode, Hoshi and the other members of SEVENTEEN‘s performance team, The8Dino, and Jun ate five different types of tteokbokki.

SEVENTEEN’s five course tteokbokki menu | CARATS SEVENTEEN/YouTube

First up on their menu was yeopgi tteokbokki, a style of tteokbokki known for its generous amount of spicy heat. It only took one bite for Hoshi to become consumed by the spiciness.

With his tongue on fire, Hoshi tried to eat a rice ball to quell the heat.

Unfortunately, that strategy did not work out for him.

Next, The8 handed Hoshi a cup of juice in a second attempt to curb the spice…

…which still wasn’t enough to have any effect. Poor Hoshi!

Sweat ran down Hoshi’s cheeks for the entirety of the group’s meal.

So whenever the spice became too much for him to handle, The8 and Jun lovingly patted off Hoshi’s sweat with napkins, while Dino offered emotional support.