Song Ji Hyo may have been partly successful in holding back her tears during Gary's final "Running Man" episode. However, the South Korea actress expressed her sadness and released her pent-up tears at the rapper's farewell party.
"Running Man" cast and crew members celebrated Gary's final appearance on the SBS variety program with a send-off party held at a local restaurant. The event was bittersweet as Gary's colleagues and long-time co-workers bid him farewell and wished him luck on his new endeavors.
However, the SBS program's producing director Jung Cheol Min told the Korean news outlet OSEN that several emotional scenes happened at Gary's farewell party. It appears that the musician's Monday Couple partner Song was very upset during the event.
The "This Week, My Wife will have an Affair" actress "cried a lot" at the said party, while other "Running Man" cast members expressed sadness over Gary's departure. The rapper also tried to hold back his tears and even hesitated to read the letters that the SBS show's cast prepared for him, according to Jung.
Similar to Song, Gary was also determined not to shed tears while filming his last episode on the variety program. The series' producing director stated that the rapper wanted to "cry in private" given the "Running Man" cast and crew members' touching tribute.
Meanwhile, the now-six member cast recently filmed their first episode without Gary. SBS shared a photo still on its social networking services that showed the "Running Man" members together in what appears to be a park, All Kpop reported.
The said image showed the six celebrities waiting for the details of their mission. Following the previous episode's nostalgic theme, the team's first challenge without the rapper will be to go on a special Seoul-based trip dubbed the "shortage vacation."
"Running Man" airs every Sunday on SBS. Watch a snippet of Gary's final appearance on the program below: