Few people, if not all people, like to talk about their most embarrassing moments due to one obvious reason: it's embarrassing

But then few people (less than ten 10% of the population, in fact) are celebrities, where talking about such demoralizing events were part of the job.

Whether In talk shows, variety shows, radio shows, and magazine interviews, celebrities were required to regale fans with tales normal people would soon rather forget: botched confessions, untimely bowel movements, and the occassional indecent exposure.

And they had to talk about it in such a way that was both humorous yet self-deprecating, in a tone that made them sound sheepish, but not so much that they didn't sound entertaining.

Even if, deep down, it would have taken said celebrity a ten bottles of soju to even breathe a word about it, had they not been out to promote a movie or an album.

It was one of the hazards of being in this profession, Kang Ho Dong, uber host and Korea's current funny man, knew. He was a celebrity himself. And  even he sometimes thought that it was a bit warped that he had to ask about other people's most degrading moments, while looking like they were all enjoying themselves.

Regardless, the question was a goldmine. It increased ratings, gave the stars more press, and generally made them celebrities more relatable.

Still, in the years that he's been doing Strong Heart, even some of the biggest stars would break into a sweat as soon as their publicist handed them the shows set of questions for pre-approval.

Sometimes, they said no. And he wondered how bad the story was that they just couldn't bear to talk about it. Others practiced telling their tales in front of the producers, editing it so that it didn't sound quite so...well, embarrassing

But even fewer celebrities--actually, no other celebrity--reacted the same way that Hallyu mega-idol Kim Hyun Joong did when he saw the question.

The actor, who was notorious for answering every question thrown at him, simply read the question and smiled.


Strong Heart, 2011

"Kim Hyun Joong!" the gaily host pointed at him, indicating it was his turn

"Ne." he answered, throwing him a tantalizing smirk that made the women in the audience swoon.

"You look very grown up" Kang Ho Dong noted "Very different."

"I just changed my hair" he said, casually running his hand through his darker and shorter cut "And my body became leaner because I've been playing a lot of football."

"As expected from the Walking Sculpture" he commented, throwing a quick glance at Hyun Joongs manager, who was watching on one of the side monitors "From flower boy to dashing young man, you just keep getting better!"

"Some people just have superior genes" Lee Seung Gi concluded, quickly catching up to the question that his sunbae seemed to be leading him through "It's not fair how they can be so perfect!"

"Eh, teen idol, you're one to talk." Hong Dong threw back "But you're right. I read somewhere that your elementary school teachers thought you were smart enough to get into Seoul National University without attending cram school."

"And besides your infamous stinginess, I personally know how incredibly polite and well mannered you are. So much so that even grandmothers love you!" Seung Gi countered "I know we're friends, but sometimes it nags me that you can't seem to do anything wrong!"

The audience erupted into laughter, while Hyun Joong's manager tore his eyes away from the monitor and gave the two hosts a warning look.

Which they pretended not to see, as they swiftly launched their next question.

"I'm sure we've all had pie thrown at our face at one time or another" Kang Ho Dong said, pausing a bit, before looking directly at Hyun Joong "So tell us, do you have any embarrassing moments?"

"Of course I do!" Hyun Joong answered with a rather fond smile "Everybody does."

"You sure don't look embarrassed!" Ho Dong countered

"It was an embarrassing moment" he admitted "that lead me to fall in love."