Though he’s a skater now, the young athlete has built up quite the repertoire since childhood. He started out as a child actor, starring in K-dramas from as young as six, including The Return of Iljimae (2009). But after learning to skate, the sport quickly became his passion, which led to his professional career.

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He’s a singer, too, appearing on the King of Mask Singer in 2020, and has even showed off his dancing skills. His all-round abilities and versatility certainly gained him many fans.

He’s often mistaken for a K-pop idol

Not only does he draw attention with his talent, but Cha is also popular for his youthful looks, and he’s constantly mistaken for a K-pop star. After his appearance on MBC’s Video Star, one of the hosts mistook him for an idol. The same thing happened again during his appearance on JTBC’s Cool Kids, when one of the MC’s exclaimed, “I thought he was an idol!” Fans have even called him the “K-pop star stolen by figure skating”.

Now he’s even being treated like a K-pop idol. When he came back to Korea, he was met by a crowd, including “fansites” – fans who take high-quality images of K-pop idols and upload them to social media, according to Koreaboo.

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He trained with Enhypen’s Sunghoon

Though the two are on different paths today, the support is heartwarming, and fans unsurprisingly want to see them interact more.

His signature hairstyle has an unexpected origin

Cha’s hairstyle has always been long, which is also one of the reasons he’s called the “figure prince”. Though it’s his signature look, it was initially unintentional. According to Global Economic, he said that when he first moved to Canada, there were no hair salons that could handle his hair properly, so he had no choice but to keep it long, and now he’s simply become used to it.

He has mentioned that now he likes how his hair flows when he moves, and fans have even said it seems like his hair is part of the choreography when he skates.

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He has a strong appreciation for music

There’s no doubt that music is important for every figure skater, but Cha goes above and beyond with his appreciation of music. In an interview with Vogue Korea, he revealed that he loves feeling the music and expressing it through his skating. He used to primarily listen to classical music, but after the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, he makes an effort to listen to pop, too.

Praised for his skills at interpreting music, the skater continuously works to explore new music and choreography, even learning hip-hop dances.