A young contestant on the HYBE Labels x BeLift Lab girl group survival program 'R U Next?' is garnering attention for being portrayed in a harshly negative light. 

On the fourth episode of 'R U Next?' broadcast on July 21, a young contestant from Thailand, Iris, received significant attention.

On the July 21 episode in particular, the program showed Iris having difficulty properly singing the meager two lines she was given in her group's competition song "4 Walls". 

In the end, fellow contestant Jiwoo scolded Iris, saying, "You should have properly practiced this part by listening to the song over and over." 

When Iris continued to struggle over the proper pitch and rhythm of her parts, her group members encouraged her by saying, "Iris, have more confidence." 

However, Iris then responded by saying, "That's okay. I want to be eliminated," confusing viewers. 

During the choreography practice, Iris was shown leaving the practice room without warning after making numerous mistakes. 

Ultimately, Iris received harsh criticism from the judges after the group's performance, as dancer Aiki commented, "I have no idea why Iris is even there. No will and no motivation to be on stage? I don't know how far that is going to get you. It is definitely a disrespect to K-Pop." 

Aiki further criticized, "You're gonna have to either get better, or quit." 

Then, after the mission, Iris said during her individual interview, "When [Aiki] told me I might as well quit, I wasn't really thinking about anything. I was spacing out." 

After the episode, many K-netizens were unimpressed with the "attention-seeking" storytelling of the survival program. Some commented,

"I'm sure it's all scripted... They're copying Mnet to a tee."

"I've been seeing a lot of stuff on communities about how this contestant is the villain of the show right now."

"This show is so boring, they're just trying to get negative attention for views." 

"The show has been clearly portraying her as a villain for the last few episodes now to try to get people angry in the comments."

"She's a foreigner who can't express herself well in Korean. It was probably easy to give her a script to follow."

"She's too young to be sold out like that."

"Noise marketing... it's too obvious."

"They're trying so hard to make this show go viral."

"The show is a flop so now they're trying to force a controversy for attention."

"The obvious villain character of the survival program..."

Have you been watching 'R U Next?'