After the Chinese government imposed a ban on idol audition shows, Youth with You has prematurely said goodbye even before it airs its season finale. The show has been gaining much attention as of late after BLACKPINK's Lisa joins as one of the mentors, but it has soon come to an end.

Now that the show's third season is officially off the air, sadly, the contestants and potential winners will never have the chance to debut. So, what do fans have to say about it?

According to Koreaboo, fans were surprised by the sudden discontinuation of the reality series. They were also baffled by the government's newly-imposed ban.

Some felt sorry for the contestants for being unable to finish the competition. Others saw the need for them to complete what they had already started and worked hard for.

RADII noted Youth with You was one of China's biggest pop idol-producing TV shows, but it was still imposed to stop recording days before its third season finale. iQIYI then released an official statement about the series' halt in production, following Beijing Municipal Radio and Television Bureau's intervention.

The statement, released on the show's official Weibo account, said the series would strictly adhere to the new management regulations and "suspend the program recording immediately."

It promised to fulfill the platform's responsibility and actively assume the media's social responsibility. In addition, it vowed to work hard to effectively control program production's element thoroughly and create a "clean and healthy network environment."

The show ended its statement with an apology for the problems it might have caused. Before this happened, Beijing TV authorities had asked online entertainment shows to work on socialism instead of "irrational" reality TV shows that produced obsessive celebrity fan culture.

This move is part of controlling the incredibly growing fan-chasing culture in China, per SCMP. Boy band reality shows in the country, like Produce Camp 2021 and Youth with You, based on similar shows in Korea and Japan, have created a herd of young and female fans who openly support their idols online.

A notice the Beijing Radio and Television Bureau published on May 10 revealed specific online variety programs had issues of irrational fan support, celebrity-chasing and hype. This called an urgent need to "strengthen guidance and timely rectification."

It then enlisted the themes that an online variety show should have, like insisting on "taste, style and responsibility." It should resist "vulgarity and kitsch" and promote "core socialist values and spread positive energy" instead.

 What do you think of Youth with You's cancellation? Share your comments below.