Sangmin Lee, Appeared on 'Blood Game X' at Wife's Suggestion... Withdraws Midway Due to Personal Reasons

Sangmin Lee shared the background and his thoughts on appearing on the survival variety show ″Blood Game X″ for the first time in 11 years. Since remarrying last April, Sangmin Lee has been enjoying newlywed life with his wife, and he revealed that her opinion influenced his decision to participate this time. He said his wife encouraged him to join, saying, ″Don’t you want to go?″ and that she also enjoys watching survival variety shows, which helped him decide to appear. ″Blood Game X″ is a team-based survival variety show where representative players from seasons 1, 2, and 3 compete alongside challenger and rookie teams. Sangmin Lee participated as a member of Team P1. He previously served as the MC for ″Blood Game″ season 1 and was the winner of ″The Genius: Rule Breaker.″ After winning ″Genius 2,″ he received many offers to appear on survival programs but had declined them all. Sangmin Lee said he first received the offer to appear last November and pondered it for a long time. He felt that the games had become more difficult and that generational differences in thinking had grown, making things different from before. He honestly admitted, ″I thought I would embarrassingly get eliminated if I went.″ Although he usually makes quick decisions, this time he decided to participate after one or two months of consideration. However, Sangmin Lee withdrew midway due to personal reasons requiring him to accompany his wife to the hospital. He discussed this with the production team until 4:30 a.m., but due to the filming schedule, returning was impossible, so he ultimately chose to withdraw. He said, ″It wasn’t a scheduled event; I had to go to the hospital with her, so I had no choice but to withdraw.″ He also expressed regret after withdrawing. He was disappointed that he could not participate in the 7th episode’s Mafia game and deathmatch card game, saying, ″Those are areas I’m good at, so I have regrets.″ He also apologized to his teammates on Team P1. Sangmin Lee said, ″If I had stayed, I think Taekyun, Seongbeom, Chulgu, and Jihu might have made it to the finals,″ expressing remorse over his teammates’ successive eliminations after his withdrawal. Sangmin Lee also shared his feelings about reuniting with Hong Jinho and Kim Kyunghoon for the first time in 11 years since ″The Genius 2.″ Although he had not contacted Kim Kyunghoon since the show, when they met on set, he thought, ″This character is one that can consume me; I must not get caught up in it.″ When asked if he regretted appearing, he emphasized, ″I have absolutely no regrets. ’Blood Game X’ was the ultimate escape. There is nothing I regret at all.″ However, he expressed disappointment that he expected to meet Dongmin, thinking ″Blood Game X″ was the final season, but that did not happen. If offered to appear in the next season, he said, ″There’s no reason not to do it.″