Wendy (Red Velvet) Height, Age, Boyfriend, Family, Biography & More

Bio/Wiki
Real name	Shon Seung-wan [1]Allkpop
Other name	Wendy Shon [2]Star News
Nickname(s)	• Wan-ah • Olaf [3]Koreaboo
Profession(s)	• Singer • Host • DJ
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	in centimeters- 158 cm in meters- 1.58 m in feet & inches- 5’ 2”
Weight (approx.)	in kilograms- 45 kg in pounds- 99 lbs
Figure Measurements (approx.)	28-26-30
Eye Colour	Black
Hair Colour	Black (Being a K-pop idol, Wendy changes her hair colour frequently.)
Career
Debut	Singer (Red Velvet): Happiness (song) (2014) Actor (Film): SMTown: The Stage (documentary) (2015) Actor (Television): Descendants of the Sun (2016) on KBS2 as 'herself' Singer (Solo): Like Water (EP) (2021) Singer (Got the Beat): Step Back (song) (2022) Actor (Theatre): I (2023) as 'Rebecca'
Awards, Honours, Achievements	Awards (Red Velvet) • 2015: Rookie Award at the Golden Disc Awards • 2015: Best Rookie Award at the Korean Entertainment Arts Awards • 2015: Best Female Dance Award for the song ‘Ice Cream Cake’ at the Melon Music Awards • 2016: Digital Bonsang for the song ‘Ice Cream Cake’ at the Golden Disc Awards • 2016: Netizen’s Choice Award at the Korean Entertainment Arts Awards • 2016: Main Award at the Seoul Music Awards • 2017: Summer Queens of the Year by Dong-A.com’s Pick newspaper • 2017: Ceci Asia Female Icon Award Golden Disc Awards • 2017: Best Female Group at the Korean Entertainment Arts Awards • 2017: Seoul Mayor’s Award at the Seoul Conference on Social Welfare • 2018: Digital Bonsang at the Golden Disc Awards • 2018: Performer of the Year – Singer (Daesang) at the Korea PD Awards • 2018: Group Dance Award for the song ‘Power Up’ at the Korea Popular Music Awards • 2018: Best Pop Song Award for the song ‘Red Flavor’ at the Korean Music Awards • 2019: Grand Prize (Daesang) – Song of the Year Award for the song ‘Umpah Umpah’ at the Asia Artist Awards • 2019: Best Female Group Award at the Korean Entertainment Arts Awards • 2019: Choice Electronic/Dance Song for the song ‘Close to Me (Red Velvet Remix)’ at the Teen Choice Awards • 2019: Artist of This Year and World Wide Icon at the The Fact Music Awards • 2020: Best Music Video (Overseas) for the song ‘Psycho’ and Outstanding Group of the Year (Overseas) Award at the Asian Pop Music Awards • 2020: Most Influential Female Idol Award at the Brand Customer Loyalty Awards • 2020: 20th Anniversary Awards – Most Loved Music for the song ‘Red Flavor’ at the Bugs Music Awards • 2020: Main Award at the Seoul Music Awards • 2020: This Year’s Artist at The Fact Music Awards • 2021: Best Group (Overseas) Award and Top 20 Albums of the Year (Overseas) Award for the album ‘Queendom’ at the Asian Pop Music Awards • 2021: Digital Bonsang for the song ‘Psycho’ at the Golden Disc Awards • 2021: Artist of the Year (Digital Music) – August for the song ‘Queendom’ at the Circle Chart Music Awards • 2022: Best Female Performance Award at the Genie Music Awards • 2023: Generation Icon Award at the Hanteo Music Awards Awards (Solo) • 2022: Radio DJ of the Year Award for SBS Power FM’s radio show ‘Wendy’s Youngstreet’ at the Brand of the Year Awards • 2022: Radio DJ for the radio show ‘Wendy’s Youngstreet’ at the Korea First Brand Awards • 2022: Radio DJ Award – Power FM for the radio show ‘Wendy’s Youngstreet’ at the SBS Entertainment Awards • 2022: Ballad Award at the Seoul Music Awards Honours • 2018: Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Commendation by South Korea Achievements • 2018: Ranked 11th on Korea Power Celebrity list by Forbes • 2019: Ranked 5th on Korea Power Celebrity list by Forbes • 2020: Listed among 100 Digital Stars (Asia) by Forbes
Personal Life
Date of Birth	21 February 1994 (Monday)
Age (as of 2023)	29 Years
Birthplace	Seongbuk District, Seoul, South Korea
Zodiac sign	Pisces
Signature
Nationality	South Korean
Hometown	Seongbuk District, Seoul
School	Shattuck-Saint Mary’s School, Faribault, Minnesota, USA Richmond Hill High School, Ontario, Canada
Food Habit	Non-vegetarian
Controversy	In 2020, during an episode of the Korean talk show tvN's 'Talkmon,' Wendy faced criticism for her impressions of various North American dialects. Responding to questions, she imitated how she believed popular white and black women spoke. Her portrayal of the stereotypical 'sassy black woman' drew significant backlash from international fans who considered it racist and harmful, especially in a country with limited exposure to black people and cultures. Many were disappointed, highlighting that this wasn't the first time Wendy had engaged in impressions perpetuating negative stereotypes about black people. A similar incident occurred in 2014 on a radio show, where she used stereotypical gestures and language. However, neither of these instances was acknowledged by Wendy or her company. [4]Koreaboo
Relationships & More
Marital Status	Unmarried
Family
Husband/Spouse	N/A
Parents	Names Not Known
Siblings	Sister- Shon Seung-hee (elder) Note: Image in the parents' section.
Favourites
Singer	Jessie J
Film(s)	Begin Again (2013), The Fault in Our Stars (2014)
Perfume	Byredo Mojave Ghost, Le Labo Gaiac 10
Food	Guk (soup), Kimbap, Bibimbap
Hobby	Nail art
Tea	Yuja-cha
Number	77
Money Factor
Net Worth (approx.)	$4 million (as of 2023) [5]Lifestyle Asia [6]KBIZoom

Some Lesser Known Facts About Wendy

• Wendy is a South Korean singer, host, and DJ. She is famous for being a member of the popular South Korean girl group ‘Red Velvet’ under the record label SM Entertainment.

• She was born in a wealthy family in Seongbuk District, Seoul, South Korea. ^[7]South China Morning Post ^[8]KBIZoom

• When she was six years old, she became interested in pursuing a career as a singer. She lived with her family in Jecheon, South Korea, until the fifth grade, after which she moved to Canada with her older sister, Shon Seung-hee, for international studies. Later, she moved to Minnesota, USA. While living in the USA and Canada, she became fluent in English and also gained some proficiency in French and Spanish. ^[9]Star News ^[10]Osen

• When she was studying at Richmond Hill High School in Ontario, she actively took part in the school’s show choir, Vocal Fusion.
  

  Wendy with her school choir at Richmond Hill High School, Canada

• Initially, her parents opposed her pursuit of a music career, urging her to prioritize her studies. However, during her high school years, they eventually allowed her to audition to become a singer in South Korea.

• In 2010, while still in high school, she participated in an online audition for Koreaboo’s Global Auditions in 2011 under Cube Entertainment. She did not emerge as the final winner; however, she was one of fifteen finalists.

• Wendy didn’t initially plan to audition for SM Entertainment, instead, she was discovered by the company when accompanying a friend to the S.M. Global Audition in Canada in 2012. During the audition, she sang Kim Gun-mo’s ‘Moon of Seoul’ and successfully passed. ^[11]Sports Chosun

• After training for less than two years, Wendy was introduced as a member of SM Entertainment’s pre-debut group, SM Rookies, on 14 March 2014.

• In the group Red Velvet, Wendy is associated with the colour Blue, according to the group’s concept and imagery.

• On 1 August 2014, Seulgi debuted as a member of the K-pop girl group ‘Red Velvet,’ which included three other members: Irene, Seulgi, and Joy.
  

  Initial four members of the South Korean girl group ‘Red Velvet’ (from left – Joy, Irene, Seulgi, and Wendy)

• The music video of their debut song ‘Happiness’ garnered over two million views on YouTube within the first 24 hours of its release. However, it was later removed due to controversy related to certain background images, and an edited version of the music video was subsequently uploaded. In August 2014, ‘Happiness’ became the second-most viewed K-pop music video worldwide. Red Velvet made history as the first K-pop girl group to have their debut single ranked on the Billboard World Digital Songs chart, reaching number four.

• On 13 September 2014, the group released their second digital single, ‘Be Natural.’
  

  Poster of the 2014 song ‘Be Natural’ by Red Velvet

• In 2018, Yang Hyun-suk, the founder of YG Entertainment, revealed that Wendy had auditioned for the company but was not accepted. ^[12]Seoul Daily

• In 2015, Seulgi and her groupmates Seulgi and Joy participated as contestants on KBS’s popular South Korean television music program ‘Immortal Songs.’
  

  Wendy (extreme right) with Seulgi and Joy in a still from the 2015 South Korean singing show ‘Immortal Songs’

• She has taken part as both a contestant and host in numerous South Korean reality and variety shows, including ‘King of Mask Singer’ (2016), ‘Raid the Convenience Store’ (2017), ‘King of Mask Singer’ (2019), and ‘Mysterious Record Shop’ (2021).

• In November 2018, she was selected as a spokesperson for Dongwon Yangban Rice Porridge, sharing this endorsement with Irene.

• In 2018, Seulgi, along with her fellow Red Velvet group members, had the unique opportunity to perform in front of Kim Jong-un, the supreme leader of North Korea. This special performance took place during a concert featuring South Korean musicians at the East Pyongyang Grand Theatre in Pyongyang, North Korea.
  

  Members of Red Velvet with Kim Jong-un in a group photo taken in North Korea

• On 25 December 2019, Wendy encountered an on-stage mishap during her solo rehearsal at the 2019 SBS Gayo Daejeon. The incident resulted from what was described as a failure to implement proper safety measures in the stage design by the show’s crew. The absence of the lift stairs led to a fall of around 2.5 meters (8.2 ft). Wendy suffered injuries, including a pelvic fracture, a broken wrist, and various facial injuries, particularly a cracked cheekbone, all on the right side of her body. ^[13]Dispatch ^[14]Naver Because of the accident, she had to withdraw from all planned activities. ^[15]Billboard Wendy was discharged from the hospital in February 2020 after a two-month recovery and commenced outpatient treatment. She made her comeback on 1 January 2021, at the SMTOWN Live Culture Humanity event in South Korea.

• In 2020, Seulgi lent her voice to play the characters of Wani and Queen Poppy in the American animated movie ‘Trolls World Tour.’

• In 2020, she contributed 100 million won (US$92,000) to the Covid-19 relief efforts in Daegu, South Korea. ^[16]South China Morning Post

• On 31 December 2020, L’Occitane Korea launched their ‘Be Happy, Smile Again’ campaign, featuring Wendy as a muse to celebrate the debut of their Happy Shea 2021 edition.
  

  Wendy promoting L’Occitane Korea’s ‘Be Happy, Smile Again’ campaign

• In February 2021, she was featured in Pond’s campaign for the Pink Essence product. Following this, in March 2021, Wendy took on the role of the new spokesperson for Pond’s.

• In May 2021, Wendy was honoured as the 2602nd member of the Honor Society of the Community Chest of Korea charity organization for her donation of 100 million won to the organization. ^[17]Allkpop

• She is skilled at playing several musical instruments, including the piano, guitar, flute, and saxophone.

• According to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), Seulgi’s personality type is ISFP (Introverted, Sensing, Feeling, and Perceiving). ^[18]YouTube – Singles Korea

• She is often spotted consuming alcohol in public.
  

  Wendy holding a glass of alcohol