How did Stray Kids meet each other? K-Pop group survived reality show to become successful

Stray Kids is not the average K-Pop group. The hip-hop/pop group was formed through a reality show by JYP Entertainment in 2017, however, its origins go far beyond that.

The group's current members include Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Felix, Seungmin, and I.N., with member Woojin having left the group in 2019 due to personal reasons.

Take a look at how the Stray Kids met each other and quickly became one of the most popular K-Pop groups in the world.

How was Stray Kids formed

The beginning of Stray Kids starts, of course, with its leader, Bang Chan. Born in October 1997, Bang Chan is said to have spent part of his childhood in Australia, where he successfully auditioned to join JYP Entertainment in 2010. Bang Chan also had training in modern dance and ballet by the time he became a trainee in JYP Entertainment.

Bang Chan spent seven years as a trainee in JYPE, spending time with their popular groups including GOT7, TWICE, and Miss A. As such, he became good friends with GOT7's BamBam and Yugyeom, and starred in music videos for TWICE's "Like Ooh Ahh" and Miss A's "Only You."

Before Stray Kids, Bang Chan first formed 3RACHA, a hip-hop sub-unit under JYPE in 2016, along with Changbin and Han. Changbin had joined JYPE in 2016 and Han joined JYPE the previous year.

In 2017, Park Jin Young, the CEO and founder of JYPE launched the reality show, "Stray Kids". Unlike other music competition shows, "Stray Kids" promised to show all the contestants working together to form a band, and none of them would be eliminated.

During "Stray Kids", all nine contestants, including the now former member Woojin, became close as they trained together on the reality show.

But midway through the show, Lee Know (who was formerly a backup dancer for BTS) and Felix (who is known for his signature deep voice) were eliminated, before being included in the final line-up for the Stray Kids the group.

The group's first release was "Hellevator", which was part of a mission in the show, "Stray Kids". The pre-debut release remains one of the group's most successful singles and its lyrics convey the hardships of being a trainee.