Once in a while, an awe-inspiring celebrity visits Singapore and fans' dreams to meet their hero come true. Mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Choo Sung-hoon, who gained further fame after his stellar performance in the recent Netflix Korean variety shows Physical: 100, visited Singapore over the weekend (March 24 and 25) for a fan meet-and-greet at the One Championship event One Fight Night 8: Superlek vs Williams on Saturday.
Snaking queues of enthusiastic fans presented photos and boxing gloves for him to sign, which the 47-year-old, a fourth-generation Korean living in Japan and who is also known by his Japanese name Yoshihiro 'Sexyama' Akiyama, did so in a baby-blue pullover from his label Sung 1975.
PHOTO: One Championship
PHOTO: One Championship
AsiaOne spoke with Sexyama after the event and asked if he would be keen for his daughter Choo Sarang, 11, to join show business.
"I did see that she had many artistic talents as a child. But I have not heard her mention that she wants to become a celebrity. Her mother is a famous model, so I think that this may be something she will be interested in in the future," he quipped cheerfully in Korean.
Sarang shot to fame after appearing in the hugely popular Korean variety show The Return of Superman from 2013 to 2017, returning for a special episode in 2022 with her mother Shiho Yano.
Sexyama won multiple gold medals for judo at regional championships from 2001 to 2003 — one for South Korea at the 2001 Asian Championships, and another one for Japan at the 2002 Asian Games.
In 2006, he was also the K-1 Hero Light Heavyweight Grand Prix world champion. He has been dubbed "Sexyama" for being able to maintain his physical fitness and MMA performance even into his forties.
According to media reports, Sexyama shared recently in a TV show that Sarang experienced some degree of trauma when she was three years old due to her popularity on The Return of Superman.
Many people enthusiastically wanted to get close to Sarang when they saw her in public.
"But because too many people approached her at one go, she became very terrified," he explained.
Thankfully, he and his wife explained to her that they were approaching her because they liked her, and she gradually accepted it and became warmer to fans.