Liam McEwan Dives Into His Relationship With BTS And Private Moments With The Members

“You can’t recreate that. They’re like a once in a lifetime act.”

Many media personalities have interviewed BTS, but few have established an ongoing bond with these seven, humble superstars. One is Liam McEwan, an award-winning television presenter and radio host from New Zealand.

BTS with Liam McEwan on the red carpet | @liam.mcewan/Instagram

In a new interview with Fandom Culture, McEwan opened up about his first-ever interview with BTS, and much more. Given how close he has become to the group, people often ask him how they can replicate that relationship. The short answer? They can’t.

People that I get coming to me or like artist management or publicist being like, ‘We’d like you to do something similar to what you do with BTS.’ It’s like, you can’t recreate that. They’re like a once in a lifetime act.

— Lian McEwan

Back in 2017, when McEwan met BTS, he didn’t know who they were or the impact they would have on the global music scene.

I didn’t know who they were. I got reached out to. It was for the Billboard Awards in 2017. They reached out, and they were like, ‘We’ve got this band, promise you they’re going to be big.’ And this was at a time when I was interviewing everybody under the sun.

— Liam McEwan

Like any good interviewer, McEwan did his research on BTS to prepare for the interview. He looked at their charity work, their underdog journey to the top of the industry. During their hour-long interview at BTS’s AirBnB, he got a taste of the members’ humor, and they just “clicked.” 

| J-14/YouTube

You know, doing little things, and having little moments like little gags, little funny things. It’s like that was when I was like, ‘Okay, these guys are seriously special,’ and it’s also the moment where I think all of our personalities kind of clicked…I was probably with them for 45 minutes just off-camera, just sitting down talking. Me and RM were speaking about New Zealand…

— Liam McEwan

Although McEwan is happy to share on-camera moments with the public, there are some off-camera memories that he prefers to keep private.

Their time is money, like their time is so precious, so the fact that I was able to have these like long deep and meaningful conversations with the guys is surreal, and some of those things I’ll never share [. . .] those conversations off-camera between me and some of the guys.

— Liam McEwan

Over the years, McEwan’s genuine love and respect for BTS have earned him the same from BTS’s fandom, and it’s easy to see why. For more, watch his full interview here.

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