Former GWSN Member Miya Admits Her K-Pop Idol Life Was “Like A Prison” In Eye-Opening Interview

Former GWSN member Miya recently sat down for an interview with Asahi Shimbun Digital. Here, she opened up about her time as a K-Pop idol from when she was a trainee until post-debut. She revealed that there were many heartbreaking moments that she experienced, saying it felt like the members “were in prison.”

I was on the phone with (one of) the [GWSN] members just the other day, and we started joking like, ‘We were in prison, weren’t we?’

— Miya

The practice itself wasn’t the difficult part for them. In fact, spending hours each day honing their craft was a reprieve from the other realities of their job.

No, practice hours were actually when I felt the least stressed. We started practice after the younger girls came home from school every day, and we each had our own individual lessons as well as group practice, so by the time we got done, it’d be completely dark outside.

— Miya

It was the controlling nature of the company that made life as a trainee seem like prison. In particular, they had strict rules surrounding dieting and what they could or could not eat.

Every time we went in for practice, we had to weigh ourselves in front of a manager first. Then we would report the meal we were going to have: ‘I’m going to eat a banana and a boiled egg‘ [or] ‘I’m going to eat one apple.’

— Miya

No one was exempted from this treatment. Even the members in their teens—the youngest being born in 2002—devised ways to eat even just a little bit more.

At the time, some of the members were young and in high school, and normally you’d talk about stuff like boys at that age, right? All we talked about was food. Sneaking out to the convenience store was what we did for fun. It was against the rules for us to have money, but everyone had a ‘slush fund’ of allowance from their parents. On the way to our practice room, we’d go into this inconspicuous convenience store behind the building and use the 10,000 won (around $8 USD) in our pockets on ice cream to eat while we took a detour back around.

— Miya

The company’s obsession with the girl group’s weight hurt them mentally. It did not help that they were also restricted with the things they could own. Miya said that it reached a point where she thought she “might go crazy.”

There was usually only time to get anything in your mouth twice a day. I thought I might go crazy. My previous company was especially strict, so we had no free time, no money, and our phones were confiscated. I was just barely able to talk to my family using the manager’s phone.

— Miya

GWSN had their contracts terminated in January 2023. Miya resigned with Japanese agency Master Lights where she will work on her solo activities. She still keeps in contact with her members.