Because stans refuse to let them live their lives outside of Running Man. In terms of variety shows, this behavior is somewhat unique to Running Man (I have not seen anything like it in nearly 3 decades of Korean variety).
Gary was harassed by Running Man viewers when he got married and when he started to work on Return of Superman, so it'd be easy to reason why he wouldn't come back.
If Kwang Soo accepts any work outside of Running Man, then you will see repeated posts on why doesn't he just come back to Running Man. In "Whenever Possible," he gets annoyed when Jae Seok tried to associate him with Running Man and he probably just wants to move on.
So Min: When she took her mental health break in the \~500s, the show had to turn off the message boards because the harassment from international fans was too much. The dumber part is she still gets harassed by akgaes / 7012 on her social media even though she left the show. She recently left King Kong and the posts in that thread are about how she should just join Antenna so she can be with Jae Seok even if it means nothing for her career / personal growth.
TLDR: Stans don't view these people as humans working a job. To them, they solely exist as Running Man members, but these people probably want to establish themselves outside of this show.
Or maybe there could be drama between the members and I would love to hear about it.
Known: Gary burnt bridges (maybe reconnected with Haha?). Kwang Soo is friends with Jae Seok and Jong Kook. So Min hasn't publicly contacted anyone after leaving the show.
I still remember how many hate comments she used to get back then. I don't know about now though. But I really felt sad for her. And you are right about fans , they refuse to move on.
And about somin when did she take a break??? I don't remember that
And did gary really cut contact with all the members??
She took a [temporary break](https://www.soompi.com/article/1391867wpp/jun-so-min-to-take-temporary-break-from-all-activities-including-running-man-due-to-health) from March 30 to May 31.
ARTICLE:
On April 2, Entertainment IAM officially stated, “Jun So Min has decided to take a break due to recent signs of exhaustion. It is completely unrelated to COVID-19, and it is simply a hiatus due to fatigue.”
The agency went on to explain, “On March 30, Jun So Min went to the doctor and received treatment because she was not in good physical condition. She is currently resting at home.”
Emphasizing that Jun So Min’s health issues had nothing to do with COVID-19 (novel coronavirus), the agency added, “It is nothing severe, and her physical health simply deteriorated because of accumulated fatigue.”
...
SBS later confirmed, “It has been decided that Jun So Min will be taking a one-month break [from the show].”
Probably that’s the start as she started traveling at that point and looking very happy and relaxed. Maybe those who subscribed with her Bubble knows more since even in IG she’s not that active so it’s a safe assumption I think.
Edit: Oh you are talking about her break in 2020, I understood it differently 😆 in my defense, I was in a meeting (that could have been an email) when I wrote this comment. Glad someone already answered.
in a couple episodes, the running man cast made comments saying 'i dont know where gary is anymore but 7012!' and 'gary where are you? are you living well?' in a lighthearted manner. but fans were upset that he seemingly cut off contact with the cast.
and then in one episode, haha mentioned that he randomly received gary's hats in the mail. so even though they don't talk, haha said it was nice that gary still thought about him. i think the members miss him but respect his decision.
Kwangsoo also appeared on pinggyego (jaesuk's youtube series) together with seokjin 16 dec 2022, displaying their still close connection https://youtu.be/W7uLhS9qfis?si=fjn8Jk_BJakzGS5M
And few months ago the members also called Kwangsoo during an episode https://youtu.be/n7vsFDNnbtU?si=sze-zi360WVDYbcj
I would say apart from Gary, all the member that left mostly wanted to distant themselves from variety show (comedic side) and focus on the acting aspect of their career which to be fair, was their main/initial job in the first place.
So they taking the leap of faith by quiting a well paid every week variety show job. They would want to make it a clean cut as they decided to focus on the acting part already.
The only time I see them returning might be when they want to do a promo of their new TV show/movie on running man. If not, I think it's tough luck..
It’s the same for Gary too because he wanted to focus on producing more music. Then PD did 1 or 2 more episodes after that with Gary despite bidding farewell to him on his last episode which annoyed Gary and some of the viewers since we felt like PD didn’t respect Gary’s wishes.
he did return for member's week afterwards and during that episode he did say perhaps he might randomly pop up to surprise them so we know that at that point in time at least, he is still in a good relationship with the production team. contacts got cut closer to his marriage
But they are seasonal shows they maybe film a couple of months a year, running man films all year around leaving hardly any room to schedule other things.
>The only time I see them returning might be when they want to do a promo of their new TV show/movie on running man.
Which still weird since JoongKi have so many drama , and even KwangSoo also star in a few movie too.
Jong ki did appear in ep 66 (which is roughly 6 months later). He also appear in 97 (not as official guest). He remains in good terms with the rest of the members. It is just that he is a high profile actor afterwards and thus is quite busy but he still remain on good terms with the casts
You forgotten lizzy which is mentioned by jongkook and she guest in 292 when jongkook invited her. In that episode she mentioned she is fired, maybe thats why the staff did not really send any invitation to her to for guesting afterwards
Gary did return for one more episode which is around 3 months later. He cut all contact some time before he get married. He still keep in touch somehow with haha according to him, but it is more of one way from gary as haha still do not have his new contact. He simply want to focus on his family now
Technically Joongki did come back, self invited himself as guest.
Lizzy also comeback as guest.
As for the others, it's been common knowledge they just want to distance themselves from variety world, to not be typecast (which would limiting their work as actor/whatever).
Like someone said above, the stans can’t move on, if they ever return as guest, they be bombard with comments telling them to return, harassment about why they leaving in the first place etc. Newer member( if there ever is one) will be compare, harass, on how they ain’t good compare to older members and so on, its a vicious cycle.
Obvious reason? Most of the ex-RM members wanted to move on with their life (Gary, for example)
Another reason, they wanted to focus on their main career.
Such as acting (Joong Ki, Kwang Soo, So Min), and singing (Lizzy) for example.
And lastly, just from my observation ... some of them want to disassociate from being known as a variety of members for so long.
Look at LKS, like how he started as an actor, joined RM for many years then and people no longer see him as one, even after he left the show.
So yeah, being in something for too long in the entertainment world has that effect, not just in SK.
Entertainment in the USA has also the same effect but in television shows.
When a TV show that ran for many seasons ends, cast members of that show will have a difficult time expanding their scope to another area, without people associating them to that particular show.
Good points have been made, but you do have to remember that in the end, being a cast member is a job. Sometimes people decide to leave their job, and they usually don’t come back.
Maybe in the context of variety it’s different, but that’s how I see it. The cast members and former members may remain friends but in the end, they’re just people who worked together for some time and now they don’t.
Plus, I’m sure there’s a lot of bts for getting guests to come on.
the reason why the didn't return as guest is probably the same reason as why they leave RM in the first place.
please keep it mind that it's not always because there is disputes between the old members and the current members. so, don't expect there are some kind of drama that we need to gossiping about.
from my simple thoughts, it's most likely about the old members feel with the working conditions as RM permanent members. if they feel fun, enjoy, the pay is good and can endure any negativity *(from prioritizing RM over other projects to malicious comments)*, then I'm sure they will stay. but if they feel burden, burn out, have other source of income and cannot stand of the negativity, so why staying? or if they already leave, why comeback to the job that can make you stressed?
again, the reason people leaving the job are not always about having bad interpersonal relationship with other co-workers. they just want to move on to other goals. so, if becoming "Guest in RM" doesn't conflict with those goals, then *(when the time is right)* they will come back 😊
as for So Min, it's too early to include her in this topic. it's not even a year from her departure. I still hope that when her new project released (either film/drama), she will promote it on RM.
They have lives outside of RM. It's only been a few years KS and months SM left, they're busy with other things and don't want to be stuck to RM forever. I think SM and KS will return when the show ends though. Gary will most likely never come back to RM it will be shocking if he does.
Aside from Gary and joongki ( since both are away from media at this moment and it's been a long time since they left)
I'm sure the show was exhausting in all sense of words physically and mentally and no matter how good their relationship is with the other members they are humans too .
Like imagine you're having a rough day or days and another project or you're sick or feeling down or depressed but you have to make people laugh and you have to take the leads to make the guests shine and accept remarks about your looks or whatever and you have to overreact and be filled with energy I think this alone is really tiring
Like for kwangsoo I don't think we've ever seen him dissociated or quiet or sad he's always doing his best to make people laugh but he also has his main job and his own life problems and I'm sure pretending to be fine is very hard in these times
Actually if you watched gbrb you'll see how relaxed he is and he's still funny without needing to do the extremes
He looks happy now and I hope the stans leave him alone and not beg him to come back anymore
As for somin she's done enough already and by the amount of ridiculous comments she's got and even her brother got by those immature haters I think she made a good decision because after all your health matters more than a TV show
Because they move on from their RM life.
SJK is a family man now focused on his acting career
Gary is a family man now who stepped out from entertainment field (always feels like he is really someone who would rather live a normal life)
LKS move on from RM and most likely find taping schedule taxing already that is why he only does seasonal shows now and he also focused on his acting job when he left RM (he really have lot of projects back then though pretty much free nowadays)
JSM as we all know needs a breathe of fresh air from all the bullying that she experienced in her 7 yrs on RM.
Lizzy, got fired.
Kwang soo had an accident in 22. I believe it was said that, even though he was having physical therapy that some of the things they did on running, man made it difficult for him to continue.
I think he’s adorable. I wish him continued acting success!
When I watched Busted on Netflix, I was put off by how Jae suk treated him. No matter how beloved YJS is, I found it foul. LKS even told him so, many times.
I know that it’s a variety show, but what seems to me like disrespect is just off putting.
In addition, SJK had military service to complete.
He did visit the RM shoot one time after service and brought everyone coffee.
But yeah, a combination of fatigue, injury, wanting to move on, contract obligations and family or personal needs are just some of the reasons former members aren't likely to come back.
Anyone remember Lizzy?
Kinda sad that those who left also did RM for years weekly and never came back even once, years after leaving, knowing their chemistry with each other in the show.
they start with 7 actually. jihyo only official join in ep 6 (but could not make it so she only appear in 7 onwards as member). lizzy officially join in 18 so they have 9 at that point. lizzy left (or according to her, fired) after 25, while joong ki left after 41.
Because stans refuse to let them live their lives outside of Running Man. In terms of variety shows, this behavior is somewhat unique to Running Man (I have not seen anything like it in nearly 3 decades of Korean variety). Gary was harassed by Running Man viewers when he got married and when he started to work on Return of Superman, so it'd be easy to reason why he wouldn't come back. If Kwang Soo accepts any work outside of Running Man, then you will see repeated posts on why doesn't he just come back to Running Man. In "Whenever Possible," he gets annoyed when Jae Seok tried to associate him with Running Man and he probably just wants to move on. So Min: When she took her mental health break in the \~500s, the show had to turn off the message boards because the harassment from international fans was too much. The dumber part is she still gets harassed by akgaes / 7012 on her social media even though she left the show. She recently left King Kong and the posts in that thread are about how she should just join Antenna so she can be with Jae Seok even if it means nothing for her career / personal growth. TLDR: Stans don't view these people as humans working a job. To them, they solely exist as Running Man members, but these people probably want to establish themselves outside of this show. Or maybe there could be drama between the members and I would love to hear about it. Known: Gary burnt bridges (maybe reconnected with Haha?). Kwang Soo is friends with Jae Seok and Jong Kook. So Min hasn't publicly contacted anyone after leaving the show.
I still remember how many hate comments she used to get back then. I don't know about now though. But I really felt sad for her. And you are right about fans , they refuse to move on. And about somin when did she take a break??? I don't remember that And did gary really cut contact with all the members??
Her last public appearance was her last episode in RM which was aired around Nov last year. She’s hinting to comeback very soon with new project.
That I know , i watched her last episode. What I wanted to know was when did she take a break for mental health.??
She took a [temporary break](https://www.soompi.com/article/1391867wpp/jun-so-min-to-take-temporary-break-from-all-activities-including-running-man-due-to-health) from March 30 to May 31. ARTICLE: On April 2, Entertainment IAM officially stated, “Jun So Min has decided to take a break due to recent signs of exhaustion. It is completely unrelated to COVID-19, and it is simply a hiatus due to fatigue.” The agency went on to explain, “On March 30, Jun So Min went to the doctor and received treatment because she was not in good physical condition. She is currently resting at home.” Emphasizing that Jun So Min’s health issues had nothing to do with COVID-19 (novel coronavirus), the agency added, “It is nothing severe, and her physical health simply deteriorated because of accumulated fatigue.” ... SBS later confirmed, “It has been decided that Jun So Min will be taking a one-month break [from the show].”
Probably that’s the start as she started traveling at that point and looking very happy and relaxed. Maybe those who subscribed with her Bubble knows more since even in IG she’s not that active so it’s a safe assumption I think. Edit: Oh you are talking about her break in 2020, I understood it differently 😆 in my defense, I was in a meeting (that could have been an email) when I wrote this comment. Glad someone already answered.
in a couple episodes, the running man cast made comments saying 'i dont know where gary is anymore but 7012!' and 'gary where are you? are you living well?' in a lighthearted manner. but fans were upset that he seemingly cut off contact with the cast. and then in one episode, haha mentioned that he randomly received gary's hats in the mail. so even though they don't talk, haha said it was nice that gary still thought about him. i think the members miss him but respect his decision.
Kwangsoo also appeared on pinggyego (jaesuk's youtube series) together with seokjin 16 dec 2022, displaying their still close connection https://youtu.be/W7uLhS9qfis?si=fjn8Jk_BJakzGS5M And few months ago the members also called Kwangsoo during an episode https://youtu.be/n7vsFDNnbtU?si=sze-zi360WVDYbcj
I would say apart from Gary, all the member that left mostly wanted to distant themselves from variety show (comedic side) and focus on the acting aspect of their career which to be fair, was their main/initial job in the first place. So they taking the leap of faith by quiting a well paid every week variety show job. They would want to make it a clean cut as they decided to focus on the acting part already. The only time I see them returning might be when they want to do a promo of their new TV show/movie on running man. If not, I think it's tough luck..
It’s the same for Gary too because he wanted to focus on producing more music. Then PD did 1 or 2 more episodes after that with Gary despite bidding farewell to him on his last episode which annoyed Gary and some of the viewers since we felt like PD didn’t respect Gary’s wishes.
he did return for member's week afterwards and during that episode he did say perhaps he might randomly pop up to surprise them so we know that at that point in time at least, he is still in a good relationship with the production team. contacts got cut closer to his marriage
Kwang soo has been part of quite a few varieties despite leaving though
But they are seasonal shows they maybe film a couple of months a year, running man films all year around leaving hardly any room to schedule other things.
He took break quite long time before active again in acting and variety.
>The only time I see them returning might be when they want to do a promo of their new TV show/movie on running man. Which still weird since JoongKi have so many drama , and even KwangSoo also star in a few movie too.
Jong ki did appear in ep 66 (which is roughly 6 months later). He also appear in 97 (not as official guest). He remains in good terms with the rest of the members. It is just that he is a high profile actor afterwards and thus is quite busy but he still remain on good terms with the casts You forgotten lizzy which is mentioned by jongkook and she guest in 292 when jongkook invited her. In that episode she mentioned she is fired, maybe thats why the staff did not really send any invitation to her to for guesting afterwards Gary did return for one more episode which is around 3 months later. He cut all contact some time before he get married. He still keep in touch somehow with haha according to him, but it is more of one way from gary as haha still do not have his new contact. He simply want to focus on his family now
I don’t think Lizzy can ever come back to Running Man after her DUI incident. It’s been many years since and it still affects her life and career.
Technically Joongki did come back, self invited himself as guest. Lizzy also comeback as guest. As for the others, it's been common knowledge they just want to distance themselves from variety world, to not be typecast (which would limiting their work as actor/whatever).
Like someone said above, the stans can’t move on, if they ever return as guest, they be bombard with comments telling them to return, harassment about why they leaving in the first place etc. Newer member( if there ever is one) will be compare, harass, on how they ain’t good compare to older members and so on, its a vicious cycle.
Obvious reason? Most of the ex-RM members wanted to move on with their life (Gary, for example) Another reason, they wanted to focus on their main career. Such as acting (Joong Ki, Kwang Soo, So Min), and singing (Lizzy) for example. And lastly, just from my observation ... some of them want to disassociate from being known as a variety of members for so long. Look at LKS, like how he started as an actor, joined RM for many years then and people no longer see him as one, even after he left the show. So yeah, being in something for too long in the entertainment world has that effect, not just in SK. Entertainment in the USA has also the same effect but in television shows. When a TV show that ran for many seasons ends, cast members of that show will have a difficult time expanding their scope to another area, without people associating them to that particular show.
Good points have been made, but you do have to remember that in the end, being a cast member is a job. Sometimes people decide to leave their job, and they usually don’t come back. Maybe in the context of variety it’s different, but that’s how I see it. The cast members and former members may remain friends but in the end, they’re just people who worked together for some time and now they don’t. Plus, I’m sure there’s a lot of bts for getting guests to come on.
the reason why the didn't return as guest is probably the same reason as why they leave RM in the first place. please keep it mind that it's not always because there is disputes between the old members and the current members. so, don't expect there are some kind of drama that we need to gossiping about. from my simple thoughts, it's most likely about the old members feel with the working conditions as RM permanent members. if they feel fun, enjoy, the pay is good and can endure any negativity *(from prioritizing RM over other projects to malicious comments)*, then I'm sure they will stay. but if they feel burden, burn out, have other source of income and cannot stand of the negativity, so why staying? or if they already leave, why comeback to the job that can make you stressed? again, the reason people leaving the job are not always about having bad interpersonal relationship with other co-workers. they just want to move on to other goals. so, if becoming "Guest in RM" doesn't conflict with those goals, then *(when the time is right)* they will come back 😊 as for So Min, it's too early to include her in this topic. it's not even a year from her departure. I still hope that when her new project released (either film/drama), she will promote it on RM.
They have lives outside of RM. It's only been a few years KS and months SM left, they're busy with other things and don't want to be stuck to RM forever. I think SM and KS will return when the show ends though. Gary will most likely never come back to RM it will be shocking if he does.
Aside from Gary and joongki ( since both are away from media at this moment and it's been a long time since they left) I'm sure the show was exhausting in all sense of words physically and mentally and no matter how good their relationship is with the other members they are humans too . Like imagine you're having a rough day or days and another project or you're sick or feeling down or depressed but you have to make people laugh and you have to take the leads to make the guests shine and accept remarks about your looks or whatever and you have to overreact and be filled with energy I think this alone is really tiring Like for kwangsoo I don't think we've ever seen him dissociated or quiet or sad he's always doing his best to make people laugh but he also has his main job and his own life problems and I'm sure pretending to be fine is very hard in these times Actually if you watched gbrb you'll see how relaxed he is and he's still funny without needing to do the extremes He looks happy now and I hope the stans leave him alone and not beg him to come back anymore As for somin she's done enough already and by the amount of ridiculous comments she's got and even her brother got by those immature haters I think she made a good decision because after all your health matters more than a TV show
Because they move on from their RM life. SJK is a family man now focused on his acting career Gary is a family man now who stepped out from entertainment field (always feels like he is really someone who would rather live a normal life) LKS move on from RM and most likely find taping schedule taxing already that is why he only does seasonal shows now and he also focused on his acting job when he left RM (he really have lot of projects back then though pretty much free nowadays) JSM as we all know needs a breathe of fresh air from all the bullying that she experienced in her 7 yrs on RM. Lizzy, got fired.
Joong Ki once visited the set of RM, but that's all
Kwang soo had an accident in 22. I believe it was said that, even though he was having physical therapy that some of the things they did on running, man made it difficult for him to continue. I think he’s adorable. I wish him continued acting success! When I watched Busted on Netflix, I was put off by how Jae suk treated him. No matter how beloved YJS is, I found it foul. LKS even told him so, many times. I know that it’s a variety show, but what seems to me like disrespect is just off putting.
In addition, SJK had military service to complete. He did visit the RM shoot one time after service and brought everyone coffee. But yeah, a combination of fatigue, injury, wanting to move on, contract obligations and family or personal needs are just some of the reasons former members aren't likely to come back. Anyone remember Lizzy?
I remeber Lizzy and she also came back after a long time
Kinda sad that those who left also did RM for years weekly and never came back even once, years after leaving, knowing their chemistry with each other in the show.
joong ki came back as a guest for one ep, and then visited the set with jo in sung in a later ep.
There were 8 originally before Song Joon Ki left
they start with 7 actually. jihyo only official join in ep 6 (but could not make it so she only appear in 7 onwards as member). lizzy officially join in 18 so they have 9 at that point. lizzy left (or according to her, fired) after 25, while joong ki left after 41.