By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
Most celebrities lie about their age to survive in the showbiz world, which has never been kind to aging stars.
However, fans who were disappointed by the news of fake diplomas of a professor and a radio presenter are now turning cold toward stars who do this.
Pop singer Mina was revealed to have lied about her age four days ago. She said she is 29, but her real age is 35. The sexy concept singer apologized in public for her lie.
Actress Kim Se-a had her real age revealed when police gave her a breath test for drunk driving. She is three years older than her so-called ``celebrity age.''
TV personality Hyun Young also revealed her real age to the public during a TV show by showing her identification card several months ago. She said that so many people raised suspicions about her real age and that she wanted to come clean about the problem. She is five years older than she was known to be.
It's not only women who faked their ages. Men do it, too. TV presenter Tak Jae-hoon first said he was 34, but later confessed that he is 39. Comedian Yoon Taek said his age was 30 while he is actually 35.
Experts say that the show business industry is always looking for younger and fresher faces and aging entertainers do not get chances to get good roles or enough media coverage.
``Everyday we are confronting 18- or 19-year-old girls who sing, act and gag. Who would care about a 37-year-old actress?'' an agent of an actress complained, defending his clients' ``white lies.'' He said that celebrities undergo plastic surgery, Botox injections and physical training to keep up with their celebrity age and competitive pressure.
The fact that entertainers lie about their age is widely known to the public and fans are more than generous to the stressed stars. However, the news of Shin Jeong-ah, who faked her foreign diploma and plagiarized her doctoral thesis to work as a university professor and art festival director, and Lee Ji-young, a radio English program presenter who faked her academic career, has made the public suspicious toward celebrities' lies.
According to a survey by local radio program NewsNjoy of SBS, 66.4 percent of 579 people over 19 years said that celebrities should not lie about their age. Only 28.6 percent showed understanding to the harsh reality of the showbiz world. They answered that celebrities are public figures and that it is unacceptable to lie to people regardless of the circumstances.