No alcohol, dates for actress in almost a decade

PHOTO: Y1003_GRACE/INSTAGRAM

South Korean actress Yoon Eun-hye, best known for hit dramas like Princess Hours (2006) and Coffee Prince (2007), revealed recently on a talk show she has not drunk alcohol or dated in eight years.

Yoon, 35, was on an episode of South Korean talk show Radio Star, reportedly her first appearance on a variety show in three years.

According to Korean entertainment news portal Soompi, she said she was once dependent on alcohol to sleep. "It's been eight years since I quit drinking. At the time, it wasn't that I drank because I enjoyed it but, rather, because I had severe insomnia," she said, alluding to mental-health troubles and the pressure to be perfect for the public.

In 2015, she was blasted for an item she created for Chinese fashion design programme Goddess Fashion. She was accused of plagiarising the design of the item, a white jacket with frilly sleeves, from South Korean fashion designer Yoon Choon-ho.

In the talk show, Yoon said she did not want to get drunk but wanted to "feel comfortable" enough to doze off. So she mixed various types of alcohol - beer, wine, champagne and soju - to help her sleep.

She later contemplated quitting alcohol and did so for a week. She said: "During that time, my insomnia was cured. I don't know if it was because of (quitting) alcohol, but my mind felt at ease. After changing my lifestyle, I could sleep easily. I really liked that and stopped drinking alcohol."

Yoon has since sworn off alcohol and will spit out chocolate if she tastes alcohol in them.

Quitting alcohol also means she has stopped going to social gatherings and bars where drinking is common. She said: "My dating life has also naturally ended too."

She said no one had asked her out or asked for her mobile number in eight years and, due to her years of being single, she now gets nervous when filming romantic or physically affectionate scenes in dramas.

Her last major series, Love Alert (2018), saw her and actor Chun Jung-myung share romantic scenes.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on March 30, 2020, with the headline No alcohol, dates for actress in almost a decade. Subscribe