Lee Kwang-soo bids farewell to Running Man variety show in his final episode
Lee's final episode saw the cast members racing to help him reduce his sentence after the production staff sentenced him to 1,050 years in prison after reviewing his actions over the past years on the show.
Lee Kwang-soo will be leaving the popular Korean variety show Running Man. (Photo: AFP PHOTO/STARNEWS)
Lee Kwang-soo, one of the stars of the popular Korean variety show Running Man, has bid farewell to the show on the Sunday (Jun 13) episode.
As reported by Soompi, the episode saw the 35-year-old Lee initially meeting with the production staff to create a memorable race for the rest of the cast members.
Lee wanted to go to the first place where they started filming the series 11 years ago, and he also wanted to go to the Han River as the team often went there during the show.
He also shared that he had fond memories of the chicken and kalguksu (a noodle soup dish) they ate while filming at his home.
Lee added: “Personally, I want it to feel like normal. That’s my honest feeling.”
The episode's race kicked off at the same location where Running Man started filming in July 2010 with the cast members racing to help Lee reduce his sentence after the production staff sentenced him to 1,050 years in prison after reviewing his actions over the past years on the show.
At the end of the episode, the atmosphere got emotional as Lee and the other cast members read out letters they'd written.
Yoo Jae-suk said, “It will feel empty without you, but you should do all the things you wanted to do now without worrying about us", while HaHa wrote, “Kwang-soo, you worked hard. Who will I tease now? Who will I con now? Who will I talk all night with now? I’ll pray for you to shine wherever you are and achieve all the dreams you want”.
Lee told his cast mates that they helped him get to where he is today.
He said, “I wasn’t always great in the past 11 years, but I always did my best. Running Man is a show where everyone without exception does their best and throws their whole bodies into filming. I ask that people continue to show it more love and interest in future.”
He ended his message by telling viewers, “I am so happy and thankful for the time we’ve shared”.
Lee announced in April that he was leaving the show. His agency revealed that the actor had been having trouble keeping up with the physical demands of the show due to an injury he sustained in a car accident last year. Despite receiving regular physical therapy, the agency said there were times when Lee “felt that it was difficult to maintain the top physical condition during Running Man filming”.
