Trainer Yang Chi-seung says gym closure cost him nearly W2b: 'I screamed inside my helmet and cried'

Trainer and broadcaster Yang Chi-seung has opened up about the full extent of his financial losses from the closure of his gym and the difficult period that followed.

Yang appears on MBC variety program "Radio Star," which airs Wednesday, alongside Choi Kang-hee, Oh Man-seok and Kim Won-hyo.

On the show, Yang recounts the donation-in-kind fraud that engulfed the gym he had run for years and describes what happened in its aftermath.

He said he initially planned to settle the matter by simply recovering his deposit, but after learning of similar cases involving other tenants, he came to understand the full scale and severity of the situation.

Yang said his total losses — factoring in his deposit, facility investment costs, member refunds, legal fees and roughly three years of lost income from being unable to operate normally — came to "close to 2 billion won" (about $1.5 million).

He also revealed feelings he said he had rarely shown anyone.

Yang said that when stress became unbearable, he would pull over his motorcycle, put on his helmet and scream and cry for a long time. He added that once he got home, he would wipe away his tears and return to his daily routine as if nothing had happened.

He also spoke about the support he received from those around him, singling out fellow guest Choi Kang-hee for praying for him and comedian Kim Sook for helping him search for a new gym location.

Yang said that at the time he kept thinking it would be "too unfair to everyone to fall apart like this," and that the thought gave him the strength to get back on his feet.