5 K-pop idols with weird allergies: BTS’ Jin can’t eat garlic or potatoes, Twice’s Jihyo avoids pineapples and NCT’s Jeno is allergic to cats – but has 3 of them

Oct 18 , 2021

K-pop idols BTS’ Jin, Twice’s Jihyo and NCT’s Jeno have some odd allergies. Photos: @bts_bighit, @m2mpd/Twitter; @twicetagram/Instagram

BTS’ premier cook Jin had to give up his beloved hobby after discovering he was allergic to garlic and potatoes, and Kim Woo-seok is sensitive to contact lenses

Nu’est’s Min-hyun earned the title ‘cleaning genius’ for his overzealous tidying on reality TV show I Live Alone – but it was really because of his dust allergy

Plenty of people suffer from common allergies such as cat dander or nuts – and K-pop stars are no exception. In fact, some of Korea’s biggest stars seem to be allergic to some truly odd things. Let’s take a look …

BTS’ Jin has a garlic and potato allergy

Jin says being allergic to garlic has been especially hard, given how much Korean food includes the ingredient. Photo: @BTS_bighit/Twitter

If you’re part of BTS’ Army fan club, you’ll likely already be aware of Jin’s outstanding cooking skills. He has shown them off on various TV shows including BTS’ reality show Run BTS, often leading the other members in cooking challenges. He also famously cooked for his bandmates on their first anniversary in 2014.

BTS fans know that Jin loves to cook, which makes his allergies even harder to deal with. Photo: JTBC

However, earlier this year, Jin opened up about his allergies – including garlic and potato! Back in 2019, Jin posted on Weverse that he had been tested for allergies “because he was itching everywhere on his body”.

“The doctor shared a shocking diagnosis,” he added, “telling me to cut down on garlic.”

Then, on episode 125 of Run BTS, we learned that Jin can’t eat potatoes either. According to Koreaboo, in a behind-the-scenes clip from the show, he said he’s had to give up cooking as a hobby because of it. But he is apparently slightly less allergic to garlic than he is to potatoes and is still able to eat some dishes with a little garlic in them, like kimchi.