Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul (
Thai: ชิตพล ลี้ชัยพรกุล;
RTGS: Chitphon lichaiphonkun; pronounced[tɕʰítpʰonlíːtɕʰajpʰɔːnkun]; born February 27, 1996), known professionally as Ten (
Thai: เตนล์,
Korean: 텐), is a Thai singer and dancer based in South Korea and China. He debuted with South Korean boy band
NCT in 2016 as part of its first sub-unit, NCT U. Since 2019, he has been active mainly as a member of NCT's China-based unit
WayV and the South Korean supergroup
SuperM. Ten has also released several solo singles through the
SM Station project: "Dream in a Dream" (2017), "New Heroes" (2018), "Paint Me Naked" (2021) and "Birthday" (2022). He made his solo debut in February 2024 with his eponymous extended play.[1]
In January 2011, at the age of 15, Ten competed on the Thai show Teen Superstar, under the stage name TNT. He won and earned an opportunity to sign a contract with the South Korean agency
Starship Entertainment, although his family did not allow him to go.[4] He ultimately joined SM Entertainment in 2013 after passing an SM Global Audition in Thailand.[2][4]
On December 24, 2013, Ten was introduced as a member of
SM Rookies, a pre-debut team composed of trainees under SM Entertainment.[5] In 2014, he and future groupmates appeared on the
Mnet-produced Exo 90:2014, a show starring labelmates
Exo, where they danced to K-pop songs from the '90s. He also participated in the music video remake of
G.o.d's "
To Mother".[citation needed] In July 2015, Ten and fellow trainee
Jaehyun competed in the Hope Basketball All-Star with SM Town, a charity match held by Hope Basketball All-Star Organizing Committee.[6]
On April 3, 2016, Ten was confirmed to debut alongside Jaehyun,
Mark,
Taeyong, and
Doyoung as NCT U, the first sub-unit of SM Entertainment's then-upcoming boy group
NCT. The rotational unit debuted with the digital single "The 7th Sense", released on April 8. It was the first release of NCT overall.[7][8] Three months after his debut, Ten participated in
Mnet's dance competition show Hit the Stage alongside other K-pop dancers such as
Hyoyeon of
Girls' Generation,
Taemin of
Shinee,
Momo of
Twice, among others.[9] Teaming up with dance crew Prepix, he won the uniform challenge on the
sixth episode.[10] In January 2017, Ten joined the cast of
SBS' program, Real Class: Elementary School Teacher, which showed foreign K-pop idols learning the Korean language from elementary students, hosted by
Kang Ho-dong.[11]
On April 7, 2017, Ten released his first solo digital single as part of
SM The Performance and through season two of the
SM Station project, titled "Dream in a Dream".[12] He concluded the season with the single "New Heroes" on April 6, 2018, which he performed for the first time at the
SM Town Live World Tour VI in
Dubai that day.[13] The songs peaked at number five and four on the BillboardWorld Digital Song Sales, respectively.[14][15] "Dream in a Dream" was included in NCT's first
studio album, NCT 2018 Empathy.[13] For the album, Ten also participated in NCT U's single "
Baby Don't Stop", a duet with Taeyong,[16] and joined the rest of NCT 2018 members for the dance-focused single "Black On Black".[17]
On December 31, 2018, Ten was announced to join
WayV, NCT's China-based unit managed by Label V, a subsidiary of SM Entertainment, alongside
Kun, Winwin,
Lucas, Hendery, Xiaojun, and Yangyang.[18] The group debuted on January 17, 2019 with the digital
extended play (EP) The Vision and Chinese version of
NCT 127's "Regular" as its lead single.[19]
On July 16, 2019, Food Truck Battle started its broadcast on Thailand channel
PPTV with Ten as the
MC. The show also had a week-late broadcast on the show's official YouTube channel. It featured both Thai and Korean celebrities such as
Nam Tae-hyun,
Park Ye-eun,
Kitty Chica, and
James Teeradon.[20] In August, Ten was announced to join Taemin of Shinee,
Baekhyun and
Kai of
EXO, Taeyong and Mark of
NCT 127, and Lucas as a member of
SuperM, a male K-pop
supergroup created by SM Entertainment and
Capitol Records with activities primarily aimed at the American market.[21][22] The group released their
self-titled debut EP on October 4, 2019, and became the first Asian artist to rank number one on the US
Billboard 200 with a debut release.[23] They subsequently toured North America, Latin America, and Europe from November 2019 to February 2020.[23][24][25]
In September 2020, SM Entertainment announced that all units of NCT would unite to release a two-part second full album, NCT 2020 Resonance.[26] In the first part, Ten participated in the B-side tracks "Faded In My Last Song" as a member of NCT U and "Nectar" with WayV.[27][28] In the second part, Ten was the only member to participate in both title tracks, "90's Love" and "Work It".[29]
2021–present: Sub-unit debut and solo activities
In August 2021, Ten released his third solo single under the SM Station project, titled "Paint Me Naked"[30] and debuted as part of WayV's second sub-unit named WayV-Ten & Yangyang with the single "Low Low".[31] On October 25, Ten appeared as a special judge for the
wild card round of the fourth season of the dance competition show Street Dance of China.[32] Ten later participated in the recording of NCT's third studio album
Universe, released on December 14.[33] He appeared on four songs: "OK!" and "Round&Round" as NCT U, as well as "Miracle" with WayV and "Beautiful" with NCT 2021.[34]
In April 2022, Ten joined
Santa [
ja] of
Into1,
Wang Feifei and
Cheng Xiao as a team leader for
Youku's female-centric dance competition show, Great Dance Crew.[35][36] In October, Ten starred the second season of Food Truck Battle alongside groupmate Yangyang of WayV,
Woodz, Janistar Phomphadungcheep, Prem Warut, and Boun Noppanut on
Channel 8.[37] He also released the R&B dance digital single "Birthday" in the same month, as part of SM Station's sub-project NCT Lab.[38]
Ten made his solo debut with his eponymous extended play in February 2024, with the lead single “Nightwalker”. He embarked on a fan concert tour titled 1001.[40][41]
Fashion and endorsements
In June 2021, Ten was approached by the direct-to-fan retailer Represent and launched a five-piece apparel collection featuring his original artworks, titled "What is ??? The Answers".[42][43] On March 7, 2024, French luxury fashion house
Yves Saint Laurent named Ten as one of its
brand ambassadors.[44][45]
Personal life
Ten is
multilingual and speaks Thai, English, Korean, and Mandarin.[42] In 2018, Ten received an official exemption from Thailand's mandatory military service after failing to pass the physical exam due to his past injury and knee surgery.[46]
^"SM루키즈, 쟈니·유타·텐 공개 '다국적 글로벌 루키'" [SM Rookies introduce international rookies Johnny, Yuta, Ten]. Tenasia (in Korean). December 24, 2013.
Archived from the original on March 28, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
^Jeong Ha-eun (March 7, 2024).
‘생로랑 앰버서더’ 엔시티 텐, 파리 사로잡다! [‘Saint Laurent Ambassador’ NCT Ten captivates Paris!]. Sports Seoul (in Korean).
Archived from the original on March 7, 2024. Retrieved March 7, 2024.
^"Jinooya Makes 스튜디오사카린 on Instagram". April 6, 2018. Archived from the original on November 23, 2022. Retrieved December 30, 2021.{{
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^"SaccharinFilm 스튜디오사카린 on Instagram". Instagram. August 10, 2021. Archived from the original on November 23, 2022. Retrieved December 30, 2021.{{
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^"MADSCENE on Instagram". Instagram. Archived from the original on November 23, 2022. Retrieved December 30, 2021.{{
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