SEEYA is opening up about the harsh reality behind their early success.
Appearing on Ha Ji Young’s YouTube channel on April 8th, the group reflected on their past following their recent reunion and fan meeting—15 years after disbanding.
Lee Boram shared that despite their busy schedules, they were essentially broke. “It wasn’t that we didn’t have time—we had no money,” she said. “We even got kicked out of a restaurant.” She explained that their agency had promised to cover meals, but unpaid tabs—reportedly three months’ worth—left them turned away.
She also recalled how other celebrities assumed she was wealthy because of her public image. “People would say, ‘You make a lot, you pay,’ but I wasn’t making anything. I started to think all celebrities were just all show—like none of us were actually earning money.”
The members said things got so bad they seriously considered taking part-time jobs in disguise. Meals at home were often just cereal or instant noodles.
Nam Gyu Ri described the stark contrast: “We’d spend all day performing, eating quick meals at rest stops, and fans would recognize us everywhere,” she said. “But back at the dorm, we’d lay out newspapers on the floor, ants crawling around, and just eat cup noodles to fill up. The gap was huge.”
They also claimed the agency fueled internal conflict. As individual activities increased, misunderstandings grew—allegedly worsened by false information meant to drive a wedge between them.
“I started hearing things that didn’t sound right,” Nam Gyu Ri said. “When messages get passed along, even good things can sound bad—but negative things get amplified.”
Lee Boram chimed in, “There was a time when she called us asking, ‘Did you really say this?’ Someone had lied to drive a wedge between us.”
Now reunited, SEEYA is finally sharing the reality behind their rise—and the cost that came with it.
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