On April 8, a video titled “Nam Gyu Ri Confesses to ‘Blind Date Syndrome’… SeeYa’s First Dating Reveal” was uploaded on the YouTube channel YouTube Ha Jiyoung. In the video, the group recently reunited after 15 years opened up about their past while reconnecting with fans through a fan meeting.
Host Ha Jiyoung recalled a moment that couldn’t be overlooked, mentioning how the members once survived on cereal and instant noodles during their peak. Member Lee Boram confirmed this, revealing that it wasn’t due to lack of time but because they truly had no money.
She shared a shocking story of being kicked out of a restaurant. The agency had instructed them to eat at a restaurant near their dorm, but when they arrived and greeted the staff, they were told to leave. Even when they explained that the company would cover the bill, the restaurant refused, saying payments hadn’t been made. It was later revealed that the agency had failed to settle bills for three months.
Lee Boram added that even fellow celebrities assumed she was wealthy due to her busy schedule. “People would say, ‘You earn the most, so you should pay.’ But I wasn’t earning anything,” she said. “I started to think all celebrities were just ‘glamorous on the outside but broke inside.’”
She continued, “We even joked among ourselves since we had no money but were already recognizable, maybe we should wear mascot costumes and work part-time jobs. But it wasn’t really a joke. We had nothing to eat at home except cereal and cup noodles.”
When the host mentioned they couldn’t talk about such struggles back then, Nam Gyu Ri responded that it would have been disastrous if they had. She described the stark contrast between their public image and reality: “We would spend the whole day performing at events, eating ramen at rest stops or grabbing bread and triangle kimbap in a rush. But when we went out, people would recognize us. Back at the dorm, there were ants crawling on the floor covered with newspaper, and we would fill our stomachs with cup noodles. That gap was overwhelming, and instead of building pride as artists, it made us feel weaker.”
The members also revealed that internal conflicts arose due to manipulation. Nam Gyu Ri explained that misunderstandings grew as their individual activities increased. “Even good things can sound bad when passed through others, and negative things sound even worse,” she said.
Lee Boram added that there were instances where false information was deliberately spread to create division. “One day, she called us asking, ‘Did you really do this?’ Someone had lied to drive a wedge between us,” she revealed.
Sources: Nate