ATEEZ's San Says He Weighed 52 Kilograms at Debut

K-pop boy group ATEEZ's San says he weighed just 52 kilograms when the group debuted. Today he has a broad, muscular build. He still finds time for the gym, even in the middle of an awards show trip.

All eight members of ATEEZ (Hongjoong, Seonghwa, Yunho, Yeosang, San, Mingi, Wooyoung and Jongho) will show their daily lives on MBC's "Omniscient Interfering View" (Jeonjijeok Chamgyeon Sijeom). The episode airs on the 24th at 11:10 p.m. KST. It covers everything from San's workout habits to stories from behind the group's stages.

San earned the nickname "Grand Duke of the North" because fans say he looks like a character out of a romance fantasy novel. On the show, he says he was very thin when the group first debuted. Years of steady exercise gave him broad shoulders and a solid, muscular chest.

While in Busan for an awards show, San stops by the hotel gym. He works through pull-ups and heavy dumbbell sets, showing off the strength he has built over time. A busy schedule doesn't stop him from getting a workout in.

Partway through his session, three more members walk in: Seonghwa, Wooyoung and Jongho. Together with San, they make up the group's workout club, the "Eussya Eussya Team." (The name comes from a Korean cheer people use while putting in effort, similar to "heave-ho.")

The three greet San by jokingly placing their hands on his chest. Then they follow his routine to build some muscle of their own. A friendly contest breaks out over who gets to be the group's "second chest" after San.

The jokes don't end when the workout does. The members copy the way San drinks water. They also give a plain piece of toast a new name: "San-style chest toast." It is the kind of easy teasing that comes from working side by side for years.

The episode also looks at injuries the members have dealt with out of the public eye. ATEEZ became the first K-pop boy group to perform at Coachella in the U.S. The group has also won a daesang, the top prize, at a Korean awards show. The episode follows the hard times the members went through on the way there and how they leaned on each other.

Some of those stories involve members who kept performing through injuries, including broken ribs and broken fingers. Now in their ninth year since debut, the members look back on how they have grown together.

The episode will also share behind-the-scenes moments from the group's recent "BAD" performance, which drew a lot of attention online and off.

For a group that has gone from a skinny rookie lineup to a Coachella act, the gym scenes and the injury stories point to the same thing: eight members who have spent nine years carrying each other forward.