Aespa’s NingNing Reunites With Her Childhood Friend On “The Next Stage 2023”

As a mentor for the Chinese survival show The Next Stage 2023, aespa‘s NingNing received the rare chance to meet a familiar face from her past.

After watching one of the male contestants perform, NingNing revealed her connection to him, “I want to say something. Since we were young, Bao and I were friends.”

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NingNing revealed that she and Bao were “childhood singing friends.” They’d even appeared on the same show.

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Looking back on their youth, NingNing recalled their inexperience as singers. That was no longer the case.

We knew each other since we were ten or eleven years old. We were both children, and we sang like children. We were really young, and our voices were thin.

— NingNing

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She showed surprise at how much Bao had grown. NingNing observed, “We haven’t seen each other for several years, and suddenly his voice became so manly. I feel a little shocked.”

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Bao confirmed it had “been a while” since they last met, prompting NingNing to invite him to “have rice noodles in Changsha later.”

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He couldn’t turn down the opportunity to reconnect with NingNing. Wearing a smile, Bao accepted, “Sure, no problem.”

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Maybe NingNing and her childhood friend can sing together again, as they did in childhood.